In the hours following Tennessee State University’s homecoming parade Saturday, one person died and nine more were injured in a shooting on Jefferson Street around 5:10 p.m. Police say gunfire came from two opposing groups at the intersection of Jefferson and 27th Ave. N.
The Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement Sunday that the motive for the shooting remains unclear. Police suspect that two of the people injured were directly involved in the shooting, but both “refused to be interviewed at the hospital,” according to MNPD.
“We can tell from the shell casings that there were gunshots from one side of the street and then on the other side of the street,” MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron said. “The crowd from earlier in the day had begun to thin out, but the parking lots were still full.”
Meanwhile, a separate incident occurred outside of Nissan Stadium as an argument escalated, but no shots were fired, according to TSU officials.
TSU issued a statement Sunday morning emphasizing that there was no violence on campus Saturday.
Here’s what we know about both incidents.
Who was injured on Jefferson Street?
On Sunday afternoon, MNPD identified the man who died in the Jefferson Street shooting as 24-year-old Vonquae Johnson. After sustaining injuries, he was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died.
Three of the victims are children, one 12-year-old girl and two 14-year-old girls. Aaron said on Saturday night that all three had “non-critical” injuries.
The other six victims are adults, and their cases range in severity from bullet grazes to life-threatening injuries. The most serious of them is a 55-year-old woman who was in critical condition upon arriving to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she underwent surgery Saturday night.
Suspects in the shooting
MNPD has not released any information about arrests made in connection to the shooting. Officials said two of the people injured in the shooting are refusing to participate in interviews and are suspected to have been directly involved.
Law enforcement conducted other interviews on the scene and in area hospitals Saturday night.
“We are confident that at least one of the persons who is at a local hospital was involved in the actual gunfire, was shooting, had a gun,” Aaron said.
What happened at Nissan Stadium
Around the same time that gunfire erupted on Jefferson Street, the TSU football team kicked off its homecoming game against Eastern Illinois just a few miles away at Nissan Stadium.
In the stadium parking lot, a fight broke out and attendees reported hearing what sounded like a gunshot. After communicating with law enforcement, TSU officials said there was no shooting. However, three people were injured and transported to local hospitals.
“According to police, the three were injured when a large crowd began to run for safety, resulting in them being trampled,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. “This incident was initially reported as a shooting, but Metro Police have confirmed through video surveillance that this was not the case.”
Tennessean reporters Gabrielle Chenault and Evan Mealins contributed reporting to this story. Hadley Hitson covers trending business, dining and health care for The Tennessean. She can be reached at [email protected]. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What we know about fatal Jefferson Street shooting, Nissan Stadium fight
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