A man was murdered and nine others were injured in a shooting near Tennessee State University on Saturday as the Nashville institution celebrated homecoming, and authorities suspect at least one of the injured took part in the gunfire, officials said.
The shooting occurred around 5 p.m. on a roadway where TSU’s homecoming parade had taken place earlier that day, Nashville police and fire officials said at a news conference Saturday evening.
“There’s no indication of any gang relation,” said Don Aaron, a Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesperson. “It was two groups of people who were beefing and they opened fire on each other with a crowd around.”
The deceased was 24 years old, according to authorities on X. His name, the names of those injured, and details regarding the purpose were not immediately revealed.
According to Nashville police, at least three of the injured were children who sustained non-critical injuries. According to Aaron, a 12-year-old girl and two 14-year-old girls were transported to a local children’s hospital. Aaron noted that the other casualties ranged in age from 23 to 55 years old, with the latter in critical condition.
“We believe that the others are going to survive and recover,” Aaron told me.
At least one of the injured “is suspected to have been involved in the gunfire,” according to Nashville police. Police did not immediately confirm whether they were seeking for anyone in connection with the incident.
Saturday marked the conclusion of homecoming week at the institution. The school’s football team had its homecoming game Saturday evening at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, just 3 miles east of the shooting location.
Investigators did not immediately know whether any of the persons shot were TSU students, Nashville police Cmdr. Anthony McClain told reporters.
“We think this is something that was kind of a sidebar to the (homecoming) celebration” but “not a direct reflection on the university itself,” McClain told reporters.
According to a statement from the institution, the incident occurred many blocks from campus. In a separate incident, three people were hurt at Nissan Stadium after “an argument that escalated into a fight in the parking lot,” prompting a throng to flee and trample several others, according to the university.
“Please keep the affected families in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” said a university official.
Kendra Loney, spokesman for the city fire department, reported that firefighters who were already in the vicinity for community engagement during the morning march raced to assist the injured following the gunfire.
According to Loney, firefighters at the shooting scene initially thought it sounded like fireworks, but later concluded it was not.
“Our personnel recounted to me some moments where they ripped off their belts and did things like use those as tourniquets because they did not have their medical bags with them,” according to Loney.
The incident “interrupted what was otherwise a fun and eventful day for a lot of people here today,” Loney said.
Five of the ten people who were shot were carried to hospitals by firefighters, while the others were “dropped off by private vehicles,” according to Nashville police spokesperson Brooke Reese.
Authorities are making progress in their investigation, which is still ongoing, Aaron added.
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