One person died and nine others were injured in a shooting on Saturday near the campus of Tennessee State University while the school celebrated its homecoming.
The shooting was reported along Jefferson Street in Nashville around 5 p.m. on Saturday. A spokesperson with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said it appeared two groups were targeting each other and gunfire hit bystanders.
Five people were transported to local hospitals for treatment, while five others went to hospitals in private vehicles.
Police said three of the victims were underage, with one being as young as 12 years old.
On Sunday afternoon, Metro Police said the victim who died was identified as 24-year-old Vonquae Johnson. The other shooting victims are expected to recover.
The motive for the shooting is still unclear, police said. Two of those injured in the shooting are suspected of being part of it, but both refused to be interviewed at the hospital.
"It's not a good thing when a handful of people can cause disruption for the entire community," said Don Aaron with Metro Police. "This type of gun violence has got to stop. We didn't expect this to happen here with all the law enforcement and safety people here. There were police officers and firefighters everywhere."
Twenty minutes before the shooting happened, Jefferson Street had reopened to traffic from the homecoming festivities.
The Nashville Fire Department was in the area for outreach as part of the homecoming festivities. Spokesperson Kendra Loney said her department was able to react quickly to those who were gunshot victims. One firefighter was transferred to a local hospital for a medical issue unrelated to the gunfire.
"As the gunfire erupted, our crews were right here where that occurred," Loney said. "They recounted that it sounded like fireworks that were happening. They reacted and they were shocked in the moment. They ripped off their belts and made tourniquets. The innocence in this event was taken away. We don't know the final number of victims. We are grateful first responders were on the scene and already here. We are very thankful for that. It could have been worse."
Metro Police's Anthony McClain said he graduated from TSU and had been celebrating the school's homecoming near the Tennessee Titans stadium, where the Tigers were hosting a game.
"It's unfortunate that a few folks pretty much ruined it for everybody," McClain shared. "Fortunately for us, we had quite a few officers working the area. They were able to mitigate the carnage, so to speak. We appreciate their efforts."
Jashawna Rucker — a bystander who had just graduated from high school — said the situation was chaos. She said thankfully no one she came with was hurt, but she saw people running and crying.
"I am thankful I didn't lose my life or get shot," Rucker said. "Nowadays, we can't do nothing. There were kids around. It's very sad this kind of incident has happened. Last year, it was so smooth and good. You never would have thought it would happen this year. It just suddenly happened."
This story was originally published by Emily R. West, Bethany Davison and Hannah Urban at Scripps News Nashville.
