Weekend shootings near three college communities leave one dead and at least 21 hurt
Gunfire at crowded gatherings near universities in Indiana, Delaware and Alabama left one person dead and at least 21 others injured over the weekend, prompting separate police investigations.
Shootings at crowded gatherings near three college communities over the weekend left one person dead and at least 21 others injured, prompting police investigations in Indiana, Delaware and Alabama. Authorities in each city are looking into the incidents, which occurred near campuses during large events and celebrations.
In Birmingham, Alabama, one person was killed and eight others were wounded Saturday night after the Magic City Classic football game between Alabama A&M and Alabama State. Officers found nine people with gunshot wounds in the 400 block of Graymont Avenue West shortly after 7:50 p.m. ET. One victim was in critical condition and seven were stable, authorities said. Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett said most spectators and families had already left the stadium property, but the shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue. He said he was "very grateful that more people weren't injured." Police spokesperson De'Rell Freeman said one person was detained and taken to police headquarters for questioning, and "multiple weapons" were found and secured. Nearly 70,000 fans attended the game, which Alabama A&M won 31-28.
In Bloomington, Indiana, seven people were hospitalized after shots were fired in a large crowd near Indiana University's homecoming festivities. Bloomington police said officers monitoring the crowd around Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street heard shots around 1:30 a.m. ET and saw a man with a firearm running from the area. Officers took the man into custody near Dunn Meadow and recovered a gun and shell casings. Police said it remains unclear whether the suspect fired any shots. No deaths were reported in Bloomington, and police did not know whether there were additional victims. A disturbance in the crowd may have preceded the shooting, police said, and Indiana University police and Indiana State Police assisted in the response.
In Newark, Delaware, a shooting on Main Street on Saturday night affected the University of Delaware community. The university did not provide a confirmed number of victims or say whether anyone had died, though a report indicated at least six people were hospitalized. The school's director of media relations, Peter Bothum, said the university was "deeply concerned" about the shooting, which he said had impacted the entire community, and that the Newark Police Department was leading the investigation. University President Laura Carlson said victims were receiving care and thanked Newark police, campus police and other first responders. In an email to the school community, she wrote that students and community members who were on Main Street had witnessed the violence and urged people to keep the victims in their thoughts. The university directed students and staff to its campus alerts page for confirmed updates.
The shootings came as violence also struck beyond college towns. In Dallas, police said four people were dead and 15 were injured in three separate shootings in one neighborhood. Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said officers were still working to determine whether the shootings were related or what led to them, and that some arrests had been made without specifying how many. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting early Sunday. No arrests had been made, police said in a news release, and a preliminary investigation indicated an altercation preceded the shooting.
The Magic City Classic, which has been played for more than a century between two historically Black universities, draws some of the largest crowds in its college football division. Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr., a former NFL linebacker and alumnus of the school, has proposed creating a Hall of Fame for the game. Police in each affected city have not yet released a full account of how the incidents are connected, if at all, and investigations remain ongoing.
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