A man charged into an off-campus apartment near Morgan State University early yesterday and fatally shot a guest at a party before fleeing through a window, authorities said.

Police officers responding to a call discovered the body of the victim in a doorway on the first floor of the Morgan View Apartments, a privately run student housing complex in the 1500 block of Pentridge Road.

The man, whose identity was not released yesterday, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. Morgan officials said they did not believe he was a student. Police could not confirm that last night.

As security guards stood around the building yesterday, students said they were frightened by the shooting, the second fatal attack in the vicinity this school year.

"It's frightening because it keeps happening," said Jasmin Sanders, 19, a sophomore from Upper Marlboro. "No one is really trying to do anything to prevent this."

The victim was attending a party with Morgan students when the gunman, who was not a party guest, entered the apartment and shot him, police said. The killer escaped through a rear bedroom window and fled on foot, police said.

"There were numerous amounts of witnesses at the party at the time" who are cooperating with police, said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman.

The university sent an emergency alert text message to the campus community at 3:34 a.m. yesterday with the message: "Off Campus Shooting at 1500 Pentridge Rd. Police are investigating and questioning suspects."

Only students who had signed up for security alerts received the text message, and many said they were disturbed that university officials hadn't provided more information.

Morgan View is a privately owned and managed student residence near the Northeast Baltimore public campus. Campus police patrol the complex and its vicinity, but it is within city police jurisdiction, Morgan spokesman Clinton Coleman said.

Coleman said the initial victim identification made by police was not of an active Morgan student. He said police were questioning at least one suspect and talking to witnesses.

About two months ago, at least two Morgan freshmen were involved in the stabbings of three other freshmen outside a residence hall. In September, Morgan student Richard Asare was fatally shot by an unknown person several blocks off campus.

Morgan officials said they believe yesterday's shooting was an "isolated incident" that should not unduly alarm students or their parents. "We do not believe that this is something that would cause us to believe that the campus is unsafe," Coleman said.

Christian Harley, 19, a sophomore from Capitol Heights who lives in an off-campus apartment building several blocks away, said the shooting didn't surprise him because people sneak onto campus and into buildings.

"I could see how it could easily happen," Harley said. "It's easy to get in there."

At the start of the fall semester, students living at Morgan View expressed concern to the university about "nonstudents having access" to the residence, Coleman said. "Since that time, security gates have been repaired and made functional again, and other security measures have been taken," he said.

Kimberly Chandler of Dover, Del., said she was concerned that her niece, a Morgan student, had not heard more information about the shooting from university officials.

"You're always concerned about your child's safety," she said. "I'm just interested in making sure that she's going to be safe on that campus."

Interviewed on campus yesterday evening, students said they were taking safety precautions, such as not walking alone.

"We go to parties all the time, but now everything is different," said Sanders, the Upper Marlboro sophomore. "You never know how things could escalate."

julie.scharper@baltsun.com

Sun reporters Gadi Dechter, Kelly Brewington and Tanika White contributed to this article.