(Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
A local Alabama coroner has identified the 18-year-old man who died during a shooting at Tuskegee University. La’Tavion Johnson was the only person who died in the homecoming weekend incident, but 16 others were hurt. A dozen of that group sustained injuries from the gunfire.
Although most of the people hurt were students, the Associated Press reports thatLa’Tavion Johnson was not. Theshooting erupted as the school’s 100th homecoming week was winding down.
Hours after the shooting, local police arrested one suspect, Jaquez Myrick. He is 25 years old and from Montgomery. Jaquez was leaving Tuskegee University’s campus with a handgun with a machine gun conversion device, per the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Myrick faces a federal charge of possession of a machine gun. It did not accuse him of using the gun in the shooting or provide additional details. Additionally, the agency did not say whether Myrick was a student at the historically Black university.
It was not immediately known if Myrick had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. As of Monday, police were holding him in the Montgomery County jail, online booking records show.
As mentioned, twelve people were wounded by gunfire. Four others sustained injuries not related to the gunshots, the state agency said. According to a statement from Tuskegee University, medical professionals at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery were treating the injured.
Their conditions are still unclear. However, Macon County Coroner Hal Bentley said he understands that at least one of the people injured has been in critical condition.
The FBI joined the investigation and said it was seeking tips from the public, as well as any video witnesses might have. It set up a site online for people to upload videos. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also was involved in the investigation, a local prosecutor said.
Tuskegee University canceled classes Monday and said grief counselors will be available in the university’s chapel to help students.
Sunday’s shooting comes just over a year after four people were injured in a shooting at a Tuskegee University student housing complex. Two visitors to the campus were shot, and two students were hurt while trying to leave the scene of what campus officials described as an “unauthorized party” in September 2023, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Associated Press reporter Jeff Martin contributed to this report.
