TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) — Homecoming Week at Tuskegee University in Alabama was marred early Sunday by a shooting that left one person dead, school officials said.
The victim of the shooting was not a university student, but some of those who were injured were.
“The parents of this individual have been notified. Several others including Tuskegee University students were injured and are receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery,” the statement said.
The city’s 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.
“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.”
The shooting occurred on campus and happened as the historically Black university’s 100th Homecoming Week was winding down.
“The university is in the process of completing student accountability and notifying parents,” the statement said.
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama — the school’s opponent for Tuskegee’s homecoming football game on Saturday — released a statement on Sunday expressing sympathy.
“Today, our hearts are with the Tuskegee family as they face the tragic aftermath of the recent shooting on campus,” the college said. “We extend our deepest condolences to those impacted and pray for healing and justice. Miles College stands with you in this difficult time.”
A person who answered the phone at the office of Tuskegee’s police chief said no other information was available.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
