Syrian forces fired live ammunition into crowds protesting the government at the Aleppo University campus Wednesday night, killing at least four. The BBC reports:

One student in Aleppo, Thaer al-Ahmed, said there was panic and chaos as security forces personnel and members of the Shabiha militia fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse a protest by about 1,500 people outside their dormitories on Wednesday night.

“Some students ran to their rooms to take cover but they were followed to their rooms, beaten up and arrested,” he told the Associated Press. “Others suffered cuts and broken bones as they tried to flee.”

Activists say the killings followed a shift in government tactics at Aleppo, a city that the Associated Press says “has remained largely loyal to President Bashar Assad and has been largely spared from the violence that has plagued other Syrian cities.” Until a few days ago used only tear gas and batons against protesters at the university.

Some two hundred students are said to have been arrested yesterday, and new protests against the violence are taking place today.