“A person is dead and 16 are hurt after a shooting at Tuskegee University; 1 arrest made”
A shooting early Sunday (November 10, 2024) during homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University in Alabama left one person dead and injured 16 others, a dozen of them by gunfire, authorities said.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said officers arrested Jaquez Myrick, 25, of Montgomery, as he left the scene of the campus shooting. They found him in possession of a handgun with a machine gun conversion device. The agency added that Mr. Myrick faces a federal charge for possessing a machine gun. It did not accuse him of using the gun in the shooting or provide further details.
The agency did not say whether Mr. Myrick was a student at the historically Black university where the shooting erupted as the school’s 100th Homecoming Week was winding down. Authorities said an 18-year-old man who died was not a university student but that some of the injured were students.
IIt was not immediately clear whether Mr. Myrick had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
The state agency reported that gunfire wounded twelve people, while four others suffered injuries unrelated to the gunshots. The university stated that several victims were receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery.
FBI Joins Investigation as Tuskegee University Cancels Classes Following Deadly Shooting During Homecoming Week
The FBI joined the investigation and said it was seeking tips from the public, as well as any video witnesses might have. It set up a site online for people to upload video.
Tuskegee University cancelled classes Monday (November 11, 2024) and said grief counsellors will be available in the university’s chapel to help students.
The statement said, “The parents of this individual have been notified. Several others, including Tuskegee University students, have been injured and are receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery.”
Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley told The Associated Press on Sunday (November 10, 2024) that an autopsy would be conducted on the male victim killed in the shooting at the state’s forensic center in Montgomery. Bentley said he wasn’t certain about the exact number of injured people but believed it was 10 or fewer.
“Some idiots started shooting,” Mr. Mardis told the news site Al.com. “You couldn’t get the emergency vehicles in there, there were so many people there.”
The shooting occurred on campus and happened as the historically Black university’s 100th Homecoming Week was winding down.
Tuskegee Community Mourns After Campus Shooting; Miles College Offers Support
“The university is in the process of completing student accountability and notifying parents,” the statement said.
At the school’s homecoming convocation on Sunday (November 10, 2024) morning, a pastor who leads its national alumni association said the shooting is a reminder of the fragility of life.
Rev. James Quincy III, president of the Tuskegee National Alumni Association, said, “In moments like these, we must remember not to rely on our own understanding, because in a moment like this, I don’t have understanding.”
I can only rely on my faith, and my prayer for our entire family, this community, as we close out this marvelous family reunion that we shared this week, remind us of our faith, of the importance of our faith walk, and most importantly because of that faith walk and that trust in God, that we have resilience, resilience in the time of trouble.”
In his 37 years as coroner, Bentley said he can’t recall any shootings during the school’s past homecoming celebrations. The mood around the small town of around 9,000 people was somber Sunday (November 10, 2024) morning.
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama — the school’s opponent for Tuskegee’s homecoming football game on Saturday (November 9, 2024) — released a statement on Sunday expressing sympathy.
“Today, our hearts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic aftermath of the recent shooting on campus,” the college said. “We extend our deepest condolences to those impacted and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands with you in this difficult time.”
A person who answered the phone at the office of Tuskegee’s police chief said no other information was available.
Tuskegee University Shooting Investigated One Year After Previous Incident; Campus Community Remains Grieving
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
“Special Agents are still in the process of gathering and examining information relative to the sequence of events which ultimately led to the shooting,” the agency said in a statement.
Sunday’s (November 10, 2024) shooting occurred just over a year after a shooting at a Tuskegee University student housing complex in which four people were injured. In that incident, two visitors to the campus were shot, and two students were hurt while trying to leave the scene of what campus officials described as an “unauthorized party” in September 2023, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
The university, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Montgomery, enrolls around 3,000 students.
The school’s website states that Tuskegee University became the first historically Black college designated a Registered National Landmark in 1966 and a National Historic Site in 1974.
