A tragic shooting disrupted Tuskegee University’s centennial homecoming celebrations in the early hours of Sunday, November 10, leaving an 18-year-old dead and injuring 16 others. The incident led to immediate security modifications at the historic institution in Alabama.
La’Tavion Johnson, an 18-year-old who was not enrolled at Tuskegee University, tragically lost his life while trying to shield a female student from the shooting at a party held at the West Commons on-campus apartment complex.
The incident unfolded around 1:40 a.m., as students were gathered on the campus of the historically Black university in Tuskegee, Alabama, nearly 39 miles east of Montgomery. Of the 16 injured, 12 suffered gunshot wounds, while four others were injured in the ensuing chaos. Two students were among those shot – a female student sustained injuries to her stomach, while a male was wounded in his arm.
Eyewitnesses reported that the sound of gunfire seemed to emanate from multiple weapons, suggesting a firefight between the shooters.
Jaquez Myrick, a 25-year-old resident of Montgomery, Alabama was arrested by law enforcement officials as he was seen leaving the scene with a handgun fitted with a machine gun conversion device. While Myrick is facing federal charges for possessing a machine gun, he has not been formally accused of using the weapon during the incident.
The shooting occurred as the university’s homecoming celebrations were winding down. Earlier in the day, the university’s Alumni Stadium, with an official capacity of 10,000, had been packed with over 47,300 attendees for the homecoming football game against Miles College.
In the wake of the incident, Tuskegee University President Dr. Mark A. Brown announced immediate changes to security protocols. The campus will no longer be an open facility, and all students and faculty are required to wear identification badges on campus. The university has also appointed a new campus security chief.
Tuskegee Police Chief Patrick Mardis lamented, “Some idiots started shooting. You couldn’t get the emergency vehicles in there, there were so many people there.”
In response, the university suspended classes for Monday and Tuesday, offering counseling services to students and staff both in-person and virtually. A town hall meeting was scheduled to address the concerns of the community.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Bureau of Investigation is spearheading the investigation, collaborating with federal, state, and local authorities, including the FBI and ATF.
This is the second mass shooting incident at Tuskegee University in just over a year. In September 2023, a shooting at a student housing complex resulted in four injuries.
