A man was fatally shot and nine other people were wounded, including three children, after two groups fired at each other as crowds from a Tennessee State University homecoming parade were thinning out Saturday, Nashville police said.
A 24-year-old man died in the gunfire that erupted on Jefferson Street around 5:10 p.m., after the parade was over but as parking lots were still full of people, police said.
“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,” police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters.
Much of the crowd had left to go to the Tennessee State Tigers-Eastern Illinois Panthers game in Nashville when the shooting erupted, police said.
Tennessee State University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police did not identify the victims, or say whether any were students. Their conditions vary, from people who were grazed by gunfire to people with critical injuries.
The three children who were shot — one 12-year-old and two 14-year-olds — all have injuries that are not critical, Aaron said.
Police are investigating how many shooters there were and believe at least one person who is in the hospital fired shots, Aaron said. Video from an aerial police camera may shed light on what occurred.
Detectives were also interviewing people who were shot. Some of the hospitalized people are known to police from past interactions, Aaron said. “We are confident that things are beginning to come together,” he said.
Handguns are believed to have been used, and police found one gun in the street, he said.
The parade took place Saturday morning and the crowd was beginning to thin out when the shooting occurred. Jefferson Street had reopened about 20 minutes prior, Aaron said.
“Just a handful of people, a very small number of people, besmirched the celebration,” he said.
He said the shooting was especially unexpected because of the number of police officers and other public safety officials who were working the event. “There were police officers everywhere,” he said.
Some of the firefighters who rendered aid were there just to enjoy themselves, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said.
“Our personnel recounted to me some moments where they ripped off their belts and did things like use those as tourniquets,” Loney said.
“We are upset. We are angry,” she said.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell condemned the violence. He said hundreds of people marched down Jefferson during the homecoming event.
“What was a joyous atmosphere is tonight very different because of a senseless act of violence carried out by people who didn’t care who else might be caught in the crossfire,” he wrote on X.
Jashawna Rucker, who just graduated from high school, was at the homecoming event and was walking back to where her family was when gunfire erupted. At first she thought the noises were fireworks, but soon realized it was a shooting.
“And everybody was running, and I started running, almost fell,” she told NBC affiliate WSMV-TV of Nashville and others. “I just thank God it wasn’t me.”
She said she was sorry for everyone who was shot or otherwise affected, and for the person who died.
“It’s sad, because nowadays, we can’t do nothing,” she told reporters at the scene. “We can’t do nothing. We can’t have fun, we can’t go outside, have fun, nothing — and there’s kids around. It’s very sad.”