A shooting early Sunday at Tuskegee University in Alabama left one person dead and 16 others injured, 12 of whom suffered gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The shooting victim, an 18-year-old man, was not a university student, but some of the injured were. No arrests were immediately announced.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in an update Sunday afternoon that 12 people were injured by gunfire, and four others suffered injuries unrelated to the gunshots.
The FBI has joined the investigation and said it is seeking information from the public, as well as any video witnesses they may have. I created a website so people could upload videos.
The shooting occurred as the historically black university’s 100th Homecoming week was coming to an end. Tuskegee University announced that all classes were canceled Monday. Grief counselors will be available to assist students at the University Chapel.
“This person’s parents have been notified. Several others, including Tuskegee University students, have been infected and are receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery,” the university said in a statement.
An autopsy on the 18-year-old’s body was planned for the state forensic center in Montgomery, Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley told The Associated Press on Sunday. The city’s police chief, Patrick Mardis, said that among the injured was a female student who was shot in the stomach and a male student who was injured in the arm.
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City police were responding to an unrelated double shooting off campus when officers received a call about a university shooting at the West Commons apartments on campus, Mardis said.
“Some idiots started shooting,” Mardis told the news site. Al.com. “You couldn’t get emergency vehicles in there, there were too many people in there.”
The shooting occurred as the historically black university’s 100th Homecoming week was coming to an end. The school statement said that the university is notifying parents.
A person who answered the phone at the Tuskegee Police Chief’s Office said no other information was available.
“Special agents are still in the process of gathering and examining information regarding the sequence of events that ultimately led to the shooting,” the agency said in a statement.
In his 37 years as a coroner, Bentley said he couldn’t recall any shootings during previous school homecoming festivities. He added that the prevailing mood in the small town, inhabited by about nine thousand people, was gloomy.
Amari Hardy, a senior from Tallahassee, Florida, and president of the Student Government Association, said the shooting shocked everyone in the university community.
“This senseless act of violence has affected every one of us, both directly and indirectly,” he said at a back-to-school event Sunday morning.
The pastor who leads the National Tuskegee Alumni Association told attendees at Sunday’s convocation ceremony that the shooting is a reminder of the fragility of life.
“It is in moments like this that we need to be reminded not to rest on our understanding because in a moment like this, I have no understanding,” said Rev. James Quincy III.
“I can only rely on my faith and prayers for our entire family, this community, as we conclude this wonderful family reunion that we shared this week, and more importantly because of this walk of faith and trust,” Quincy said. In God, we have steadfastness and steadfastness in times of distress.
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama — the school’s opponent in Saturday’s homecoming football game at Tuskegee — issued a statement expressing sympathy.
“Today, our thoughts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic consequences of the recent shooting on campus,” the college said. “We extend our deepest condolences to those affected and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands with you in this difficult time.
Sunday’s shooting comes just over a year after four people were injured in a shooting at a Tuskegee University student housing complex. In this shooting incident, two campus visitors were shot and two students were injured as they attempted to leave the scene of what campus officials described as an “unauthorized party” in September 2023. Montgomery Advertiser I mentioned.
There are about 3,000 students enrolled at the university, which is located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Alabama’s capital city of Montgomery.
The university was the first historically black college to be designated a National Landmark in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Site in 1974, according to the school’s website.
“We will get through this together because in tough times, strong people band together and survive,” Norma Clayton, president of the board of trustees, said at a Sunday morning mass.
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