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USC Rolls Out New Security Measures in Wake of Shooting

KTLA News

12:19 PM CST, November 6, 2012

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EXPOSITION PARK (KTLA) -- USC has announced a set of new heightened security measures in the wake of the Halloween shooting on the campus that left four people wounded.

The university will now require mandatory identification checks on anyone seeking to enter the main campus between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to USC President C.L. Max Nikias.

Entrance to the campus during those hours will be restricted to students, faculty, staff and their guests.

The guests will have to be escorted by a USC-affiliated person or be confirmed as a legitimate guest by phone, Nikias said.

In addition, outside promoters will be banned from working on USC social events held on campus or on nearby Fraternity Row.

Last week's shooting happened outside a packed party at the Tutor Campus Center, which had been promoted by a non-USC firm and drew young people from across the city.

Other measures include stronger advanced scrutiny of proposals for large student events and parties.

USC also plans to beef up security patrols and have more security cameras at campuses entrances and perimeters.

The changes are being announced Tuesday in a letter and email sent to USC students, faculty and employees.

The new rules will be rolled out immediately and fully implemented by January, according to Nikias.

He said most non-USC visitors will not be affected, including those who attend events like concerts and sports games that begin before 9 p.m.

Meantime, 20-year-old Brandon Spencer, of Inglewood, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting.

He is being held on $2 million bail. If convicted, he could get life in prison.

Spencer allegedly got into an argument with former Crenshaw High School football player Geno Hall.

Investigators say the dispute escalated and Spencer fired several shots that hit Hall as well as three other bystanders.

The other victims, none of them students, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Spencer is a security guard with an active license, according to the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

Prosecutors allege that Spencer has gang ties.

Hall suffered seven gunshot wounds in the stomach, left thigh, leg, buttocks and arm, his father said, but he's expected to survive.

Eugene Hall said his son had attended the party with several former teammates, including Davonte Smith, who was shot in the foot.

Shortly before the shooting, Hall tweeted a photo of himself arriving at the USC party, with a note that said, "There goes the Neighborhood."

"Geno's a good kid, just goes to school and comes home," Eugene Hall told KTLA. "I don't see why anybody would want to do this -- to target him."

Hall, the 2009 L.A. City Football Player of the Year, is currently a student and football player at West Los Angeles Community College.

His goal was to transfer to a university, possibly in Oregon, Hawaii or New Mexico, to play football, according to his father, Eugene Hall.

Minutes after the shooting, campus security recovered a handgun and detained two suspects who tried to run.

The campus was on lockdown for several hours after the shooting, but that was later lifted and classes continued as scheduled.

Still, the shooting left the campus on edge, coming six months after two graduate students were fatally shot in a robbery near campus.

Police described the on-campus shooting as an isoalted incident.

"None of the individuals involved -- the people that were wounded or the people that are being questioned -- are students," LAPD Det. Gus Villanueva emphasized.