By Jeff Martin
Associated Press
ATLANTA 鈥� 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鈥檚 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.
Tuskegee University canceled classes Monday and said grief counselors will be available in the university鈥檚 chapel to help students.
The parents of the victim were notified, and an autopsy was planned at the state鈥檚 forensic center in Montgomery, Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley told The Associated Press.
Tuskegee city鈥檚 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.
鈥淪ome idiots started shooting,鈥� Mardis told the news site . 鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 get the emergency vehicles in there, there were so many people there.鈥�
A person who answered the phone at Mardis鈥� office said no other information was available.
In his 37 years as coroner, Bentley said he couldn鈥檛 recall any shootings during the school鈥檚 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鈥� Hardee, a senior from Tallahassee, Florida, who is president of the student government association.
鈥淭his senseless act of violence has touched each of us, whether directly or indirectly,鈥� he said at the school鈥檚 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.
鈥淚t 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鈥檛 have understanding,鈥� said the Rev. James Quincy III.
鈥淚 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,鈥� Quincy said, 鈥渁nd most importantly because of that faith walk and that trust in God, that we have resilience, resilience in the time of trouble.鈥�
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama 鈥� the school鈥檚 opponent for Tuskegee鈥檚 homecoming football game on Saturday 鈥� released a statement expressing sympathy.
鈥淭oday, our hearts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic aftermath of the recent shooting on campus,鈥� the college said. 鈥淲e extend our deepest condolences to those impacted and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands with you in this difficult time.鈥�
Sunday鈥檚 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 鈥渦nauthorized party鈥� in September 2023, the reported.
About 3,000 students are enrolled at the university about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Alabama鈥檚 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鈥檚 website.
Norma Clayton, chairwoman of the board of the trustees, said at the Sunday morning service that 鈥渨e will get through this together because in tough times, tough people band together and they survive.鈥�