Triple homicide hits small Kentucky town

Three are dead after a shooting at a pawn shop in the small Kentucky town of Danville, a rare homicide in the usually safe Southern college community. 

The two owners of the ABC Gold Pawn shop in Danville and a customer at the shop are dead, writes the The Danville Advocate-Messenger. The believed shooter remains at large as of 12:00 PM Friday. 

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The pawn shop is located nearby the campuses of both Centre College and the Kentucky School for the Deaf, both of which were locked down as authorities sped to the scene to investigate. Danville City schools were locked down as well. 

The lockdown has been lifted, and the Centre College website has written that classes will resume at 1:50 PM, and the Danville City school district has been informed that the lockdown can be lifted, writes Kentucky.com. 

"I was driving right through the Centre College campus and I thought it was unusual because it's usually very busy and lots of students are out and about, but it was very quiet," said Katy Nenninger to Kentucky.com. "I got to my office about five minutes later and received an automated call from Boyle County Emergency Service and it said to stay inside and away from windows. It also said to avoid the downtown area.

"You don't expect something like this to happen in Danville," she added. 

With a population a little over 16,000, Danville is the home of Centre College, a private liberal arts school that is ranked among the top 50 in the country.

It made headlines in late 2012 for hosting the vice-presidential date between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, and gained notoriety again in July after a computer company founder made a record-sized $250 million donation to the school.