A shooting early Sunday morning during Homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University in Alabama resulted in one death and 16 injuries, with 12 of those wounded by gunfire. The shooting took place as the university’s 100th Homecoming Week was winding down. Jaquez Myrick, 25, from Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested shortly after the shooting while leaving the scene. He was found in possession of a handgun equipped with a machine gun conversion device. Myrick faces a federal charge of possessing a machine gun, though authorities did not accuse him of using it during the shooting and have not provided further details.
The shooting occurred at the West Commons on-campus apartments. Authorities reported that the victim who died was an 18-year-old man who was not a student at the university, but several of the injured were students. Among the injured were a female student shot in the stomach and a male student shot in the arm. Four others sustained non-gunshot injuries. The victims were taken to local hospitals, including East Alabama Medical Center and Baptist South Hospital, though their conditions were not immediately released.
Tuskegee University’s administration responded by canceling classes on Monday and offering grief counseling at the university chapel. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have joined the investigation, with the FBI urging the public to submit tips and any video footage of the incident. The shooting occurred just as city police were responding to an unrelated double shooting off-campus. Police Chief Patrick Mardis described the chaotic scene, noting that emergency vehicles had difficulty accessing the area due to the large crowd present.
The fatal shooting marks a tragic event in Tuskegee’s history, especially since local authorities and residents have no recollection of such an incident during past Homecoming celebrations. The university community, including students and staff, was left in shock. Amare’ Hardee, the student government president, expressed that the violence had deeply affected everyone at the school. The Rev. James Quincy III, pastor of the Tuskegee National Alumni Association, spoke at the university’s Homecoming convocation, encouraging the community to rely on faith and resilience in the face of such a senseless act.
Miles College, which had played Tuskegee in the Homecoming football game the previous day, issued a statement offering condolences to the Tuskegee family, expressing solidarity with those impacted by the tragedy.
This incident comes just over a year after another shooting at Tuskegee University, when four people were injured during a shooting at a student housing complex in September 2023, following an “unauthorized party.”
Tuskegee University, which enrolls about 3,000 students and is located roughly 40 miles east of Montgomery, was the first historically Black college to be designated a National Historic Site in 1974 and a Registered National Landmark in 1966. Despite the tragedy, university leaders like Norma Clayton, chairwoman of the board of trustees, expressed confidence that the community would overcome the adversity, saying, “in tough times, tough people band together and they survive.”
