One person was killed and nine others wounded in a shootout amid a crowd near a university in Tennessee Saturday afternoon, police said.
A crowd that gathered earlier in the day for homecoming events at Tennessee State University was beginning to thin out when the gunfire erupted between two groups around 5pm, said Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron. He said shell casings indicate that gunfire was exchanged across a street near campus between the groups.
The Nashville police commander Anthony McClain said the gunfire didn’t appear to be directly related to Tennessee State University events that had included a parade and other festivities earlier in the day. The football game was taking place in another part of town when the gunfire happened.
“It’s unfortunate that a few folks ruined it for everybody,” McClain said. “We have to come to a point to stop this violence.”
A police statement on social media said a 24-year-old man died. The victims included two 12-year-olds and a 14-year-old with non-critical injuries, Aaron said.
Police spokesperson Brooke Reese said that at least some of the wounded appear to have been involved in the exchange of gunfire.
Police and firefighters who had been present for the day’s activities were able to quickly respond to the shooting, authorities said. Fire department spokesperson Kendra Loney said some firefighters used belts as tourniquets.
Witness Jashawna Rucker told the television news station WTVF that chaos ensued after people heard the shots, and she saw people crying as they ran for safety.
“I am thankful I didn’t lose my life or get shot,” Rucker said.
Rauf Muhammad told the Tennessean newspaper that he was selling food from a tent along the street when he heard the gunfire and dropped to the ground.
“Everybody having fun, music playing or whatnot. Then all of a sudden, you just hear like you off in a war somewhere,” Muhammad told the newspaper.
Earlier Saturday in Oklahoma City, 13 people were shot – including one fatally – during a party. That case as well as the one in Nashville helped bring the number of mass shootings reported in the US so far this year to more than 415, according to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive.
The non-partisan archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are wounded or killed.
Constant mass shootings in the US have prompted many in the country to plead for federal lawmakers to provide more substantial gun control, but Congress has largely been unable or unwilling to heed those calls.
