One person dead and 16 injured after shooting at Tuskegee University; 1 arrest made

TUSKEGEE, Ala. – A shooting early Sunday during homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University in Alabama left one person dead and 16 others injured, including a dozen by gunfire, authorities said. One arrest was announced hours later.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Jaquez Myrick, 25, of Montgomery, was taken into custody when he left the scene of the campus shooting and was found with a handgun with a machine gun conversion device. The agency said in a statement that Myrick faces a federal charge of possession of a machine gun. It did not charge him with using the gun in the shooting or provide any additional details.

The agency did not say whether Myrick was a student at the historically black college where the shooting erupted as the school’s 100th Homecoming Week ended. Authorities said the 18-year-old man who died was not a university student, but some of the injured were students.

It was not immediately known if Myrick had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Twelve people were injured by gunfire, and four others suffered injuries unrelated to the gunfire, the state agency said. Several were treated at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery, the university said in a statement. Their conditions were not immediately released.

The FBI joined the investigation and said it was looking for tips from the public, as well as any video witnesses. It has set up an online site where people can upload videos. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also involved in the investigation, a local prosecutor said.

Tuskegee University canceled classes Monday and said grief counselors will be available in the university chapel to help students.

The victim’s parents were notified and an autopsy was scheduled at the state forensic center in Montgomery, Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley told The Associated Press.

Tuskegee City Police Chief Patrick Mardis said the injured included a female student who was shot in the stomach and a male student who was shot in the arm.

City police were responding to an unrelated double shooting off campus when officers received a call about the college 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 the emergency vehicles in there, there were so many people there.”

A person who answered the phone at Mardis’ office said no other information was available.

In his 37 years as coroner, Bentley said he could not recall a single shooting during the school’s homecoming celebrations. The mood around the small town of about 9,000 residents was somber, he said.

The shooting left everyone in the university community shocked, said Amare’ Hardee, a senior from Tallahassee, Florida, who is president of the student body.

“This senseless act of violence has affected us all, directly or indirectly,” he said during the school assembly on Sunday morning.

A pastor who leads the Tuskegee National Alumni Association told those at the meeting 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 rely on our own understanding, because in a moment like this I have no understanding,” said the Rev. James Quincy III.

“I can only rely on my faith and my prayers for our entire family, this community, as we conclude this beautiful family reunion that we shared this week,” Quincy said, “and especially because of that walk of faith and that trust. in God, that we have resilience, resilience in times of trouble.”

Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama — the school’s opponent for Saturday’s Tuskegee home game — released a statement expressing condolences.

“Today our thoughts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic aftermath of the recent campus shooting,” the college said. “We extend our deepest condolences to those affected and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands by you during this difficult time.”

Sunday’s shooting comes just over a year after four people were injured in a shooting at a student complex at Tuskegee University. Two campus visitors were shot and two students were injured as they tried to leave the scene of what campus officials described as an “unauthorized party” in September 2023. Montgomery Advertiser reported.

About 3,000 students attend the university, located about 40 miles east of Montgomery, Alabama’s capital.

The university was the first historically black university to be designated a registered national monument in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974, according to the school’s website.

Norma Clayton, chair of the board of directors, said during the Sunday morning service that “we will get through this together because when times are tough, tough people unite and survive.”