Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Authorities say they\u2019ve arrested a 25-year-old man who was found with a weapon while leaving the shooting scene at Alabama\u2019s Tuskegee University.
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing near the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows evidence markers as law enforcement work at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing by the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
Authorities say they\u2019ve arrested a 25-year-old man who was found with a weapon while leaving the shooting scene at Alabama\u2019s Tuskegee University.
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing near the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing near the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows evidence markers as law enforcement work at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows evidence markers as law enforcement work at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing by the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows people standing by the scene of an earlier shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 A shooting early Sunday during homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University in Alabama left one person dead and injured 16 others, a dozen of them 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 while leaving the scene of the campus shooting and had been 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 accuse him of using the gun in the shooting or provide additional details.
The agency did not say whether Myrick was a student at the historically Black university where the shooting erupted as the school\u2019s 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.
It was not immediately known if Myrick had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Twelve people were wounded by gunfire, and four others sustained injuries not related to the gunshots, the state agency said. Several were being 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 seeking tips from the public, as well as any video witnesses might have. It set up a site online for people to upload video. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also was involved in the investigation, a local prosecutor said.<\/p>\n
Tuskegee University canceled classes Monday and said grief counselors will be available in the university\u2019s chapel to help students.
The parents of the victim were notified, and an autopsy was planned at the state\u2019s forensic center in Montgomery, Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley told The Associated Press.
Tuskegee city\u2019s 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 got the call about the university shooting at the West Commons on-campus apartments, Mardis said.
\u201cSome idiots started shooting,\u201d Mardis told the news site Al.com<\/a><\/span>. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t get the emergency vehicles in there, there were so many people there.\u201d
A person who answered the phone at Mardis\u2019 office said no other information was available.
In his 37 years as coroner, Bentley said he couldn\u2019t recall any shootings during the school\u2019s past homecoming celebrations. The mood around the small town of around 9,000 people was somber, he said.
The shooting left everyone in the university community shaken, said Amare\u2019 Hardee, a senior from Tallahassee, Florida, who is president of the student government association.
\u201cThis senseless act of violence has touched each of us, whether directly or indirectly,\u201d he said at the school\u2019s homecoming convocation Sunday morning.
A pastor who leads the Tuskegee National Alumni Association told those at the convocation service that the shooting is a reminder of the fragility of life.
\u201cIt is in moments like these that we need to be reminded not to stand on our own understanding because in a moment like this, I don\u2019t have understanding,\u201d said the Rev. James Quincy III.
\u201cI 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,\u201d Quincy said, \u201cand most importantly because of that faith walk and that trust in God, that we have resilience, resilience in the time of trouble.\u201d
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama \u2014 the school\u2019s opponent for Tuskegee\u2019s homecoming football game on Saturday \u2014 released a statement expressing sympathy.
\u201cToday, our hearts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic aftermath of the recent shooting on campus,\u201d the college said. \u201cWe extend our deepest condolences to those impacted and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands with you in this difficult time.\u201d
Sunday\u2019s shooting comes just over a year after four people were injured in a shooting at a Tuskegee University student housing complex. 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 \u201cunauthorized party\u201d in September 2023, the Montgomery Advertiser<\/a><\/span> reported.
About 3,000 students are enrolled at the university about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Alabama\u2019s capital city of Montgomery.
The university was the first historically Black college to be designated a Registered National Landmark in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Site in 1974, according to the school\u2019s website.
Norma Clayton, chairwoman of the board of the trustees, said at the Sunday morning service that \u201cwe will get through this together because in tough times, tough people band together and they survive.\u201d
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n