Arrest made in Tuskegee University shooting that left 1 dead, 16 injured

Authorities are investigating a shooting that happened early Sunday during homecoming celebrations on the Tuskegee University campus in the city of Tuskegee, Ala., that left one person dead and 16 injured, according the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Jaquez Myrick, a 25-year-old from Montgomery, Ala., was found seen leaving the scene of the shooting and carrying a handgun with a machine gun conversion device, the agency said in a statement. Myrick has been arrested and federally charged with possession of a machine gun.

The university said law enforcement has secured the scene and the ALEA’s Bureau of Investigations is investigating.

An 18-year-old died at the scene. Twelve of the injured victims were wounded by gunfire and taken to area hospitals in Montgomery and Lee Counties. Four others sustained injuries during the incident not from gunfire.

The person who died was a “non-university individual,” Tuskegee University said in a statement, however some of the injured victims were students at the school.

The ALEA said its special agents were notified of the shooting around 1:40 a.m. on Sunday.

All classes at the university on Monday have been canceled as authorities continue to process the scene, the school said. University grief counselors will be available for students in the chapel on Monday, it added.

The shooting happened as students gathered on the campus of the historically Black private university, located in Macon County, on Saturday night to celebrate Tuskegee University’s 100th homecoming.

The Alabama Bureau of Investigations said it’s working with federal, state and local authorities in the investigation.

The incident follows a series of other deadly shootings at homecoming events last month. A shooting during homecoming weekend at Albany State University in Georgia on Oct. 19 left one person dead and multiple others injured. That same day, three people were killed and eight others were injured after shots were fired at a homecoming football celebration in central Mississippi.

On Oct. 12, on person died and nine others were injured in a shooting near Tennessee State University in Nashville after the school’s homecoming celebration.

Copyright © 2024 NPR