Just three weeks after five students were shot and killed at Northern Illinois University, two more students died in shootings at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Auburn University.

UNC senior Eve Carson, 22, was found dead approximately a mile from her residence at 5 a.m. Wednesday. Police identified Carson, the university’s student body president, on Thursday.

Carson sustained numerous gunshot wounds to her body, including multiple shots to her head.

During an 11:30 a.m. press conference Thursday, Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said the investigation of Carson’s death is ongoing and police are seeking leads in the case.

“She was a highly-regarded member of the university community,” Curran said in a public statement.

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said Carson was a happy, vivacious, intelligent and engaged individual.

“Eve Carson was a person who touched lives throughout this town and campus,” Foy said during a public address. “Her service as student body president, as a member of the board of trustees and numerous other ways only provides a glimpse of who Eve was.”

The second reported death took place at 9 p.m. Tuesday night when Auburn freshman Lauren Birk, 18, was shot off campus. According to reports, Birk was taken to a nearby medical center, but died of the single gunshot wound.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley stated that a reward of $10,000 would be given for the disclosure of any information that leads to an arrest in the case.

Both deaths continue the trend of shooting deaths at American universities.

ISU Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill said he believes the trend of college campus shootings is the result of a number of variables.

Hill said college campuses have been often targeted because they are easily accessible, have lots of people concentrated in small areas and are mostly open in nature.

He used an example from the old West to portray the situation facing college campuses.

“It’s almost like the guy who asked Jesse James, ‘Why do you rob banks?’ It’s because that’s where the money is,” he said.

Brian Phillips, senior in political science and GSB president, said student leaders across Iowa are constantly working to prevent and deter the violence that has been seen at other universities across the country.

“It’s disappointing to see campus violence – we try to do our best to head that off as a university. Student leaders across the state are dealing with a lot of campus violence. We’re aware of the potential for violence at any of the universities,” Phillips said. “It’s not something you like to see, certainly, but it’s something that student leaders are certainly aware of, and are working to making sure campus environments are as safe as possible.”