MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A deadly shooting early Sunday morning left one person dead and several others injured on the campus of Tuskegee University, which was celebrating its 100th Homecoming weekend.
Kawana McGough, a spokesperson for the university, confirmed the shooting and stated that the victim who was killed was not a student or staff member at the historically Black university. McGough also shared that several students were injured and were being treated at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery. Tuskegee University is located about 40 miles east of Montgomery.
Campus security and local law enforcement quickly responded to the scene, securing the area, and the Alabama Bureau of Investigations (ABI) has taken over the investigation, McGough said.
Interim police chief for the City of Tuskegee’s campus police, Patrick Mardis, reported that one female student was shot in the stomach, a male student was shot in the arm, and at least one other student was also wounded. “Some idiots just started shooting,” Mardis said. “It was so crowded, we couldn’t even get emergency vehicles in there.”
The shooting occurred near West Commons on campus, a location where an unrelated shooting took place in September 2023, resulting in four injuries.
McGough said the university was working to confirm the status of the wounded students and was in the process of notifying their families.
Tuskegee University, founded in 1881 by Dr. Booker T. Washington and former slave Lewis Adams, has grown from its humble beginnings with just 30 students to a respected institution today, enrolling more than 3,000 students. The university is especially known for graduating the most African American aerospace engineers in the United States.
