MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A tragic shooting early Sunday morning left one person dead and several others wounded on the campus of Tuskegee University, which was in the midst of celebrating its 100th Homecoming weekend.
Tuskegee University spokesperson Kawana McGough confirmed the shooting and stated that the person who was killed was neither a student nor a staff member of the historically Black institution. She added that several students were among those injured and are receiving medical treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery. The university is located about 40 miles east of Montgomery.
Campus security, along with local law enforcement, quickly responded to the scene, securing the area. The Alabama Bureau of Investigations (ABI) is now handling the investigation, McGough said.
Interim police chief for the Tuskegee University Police Department, Patrick Mardis, shared that one female student was shot in the stomach, a male student was shot in the arm, and at least one other student was wounded in the attack. “Some idiots started shooting,” Mardis said. “There were so many people there, we couldn’t get the emergency vehicles in.”
The shooting took place near the West Commons area of campus, which was also the site of an unrelated shooting in September 2023 that resulted in four injuries.
McGough also said the university is working to assess the condition of the wounded students and is in the process of notifying their families.
Founded in 1881 by Dr. Booker T. Washington and former enslaved person Lewis Adams, Tuskegee University has grown from its modest beginnings with just 30 students to a prominent institution with more than 3,000 students today. The university is known for graduating the highest number of African American aerospace engineers in the nation.