HOUSTON — At least one person was killed and 16 others, including students, injured in a shooting on the campus of Tuskegee University in the southern US state of Alabama, authorities said.
According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation, an 18-year-old died at the scene, while twelve of the injured sustained gunshot wounds, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to a statement from the university, the fatal victim was not a student at the university. “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.”
Tuskegee celebrated its 100th homecoming on Saturday when a football game between Tuskegee and Alabama’s Miles College, were winding down, officials said.
According to an ABC News report, authorities suspect multiple shooters were involved. “There’s going to be two shooters at this time, maybe more,” one officer said in a radio call, according to transmissions provided by Broadcastify. However, as of Sunday afternoon, no arrests had been made, according to a statement by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Tuskegee University President and CEO Mark Brown addressed the incident during the university’s Homecoming Convocation on Sunday.
“I now ask that you would join me in a brief moment of silence as we reflect on the lost soul and the parents, family members and friends that grieve,” he said, expressing concerns for the safety of students and faculty.
The tragic incident marks the latest in a series of campus shootings at homecoming events in southern United States.
On October 19, a shooting after a homecoming game at Albany State University in Georgia left one dead and several others injured. Additionally, a homecoming event in Lexington, Mississippi, turned deadly when gunfire claimed three lives and injured eight others. On October 12, another shooting near Tennessee State University in Nashville killed one man and injured nine others.
