NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An alert was issued for Vanderbilt University’s campus following a report of a shooting Saturday afternoon that resulted in multiple injuries and apprehensions.
According to the university’s AlertVU page, the incident was reported at Sutherland House, a first-year dorm building located in the 1900 block of South Drive:
ALERT! A shooting has been reported near the Vanderbilt campus at Sutherland.
– RUN, HIDE, FIGHT
– Police are responding! Avoid the area!
Metro dispatch said a disorderly crowd call came in from that same address just after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, but that call was upgraded to a shooting shortly after this story was published.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), investigators believe the incident happened between members of a construction crew working in Sutherland House over “the termination of employment.”
An officer at the scene initially told News 2 that two people were injured in the shooting. MNPD officials later reported only one person was shot in the arm during the incident, but Vanderbilt told News 2 Saturday evening it was two people injured.
By 6 p.m., Vanderbilt updated its AlertVU page, saying, “The suspect has been apprehended. There are no ongoing threats to the community. Officers remain at the 18th Ave S. and Horton area.”
However, MNPD told News 2 that two suspects — one of whom had a firearm — were taken into custody at the nearby MAPCO gas station by members of the Vanderbilt University Police Department (VUPD) while MNPD officers were clearing the dorm building.
Then, shortly before 7:30 p.m., News 2 received a statement from the university saying five people were taken into custody:
Police are investigating an altercation between external contractors conducting maintenance at an unoccupied Vanderbilt University residence hall. At this point, police are reporting shots fired by at least two individuals and five people are now in custody. Two people have been transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
There is no ongoing threat to the university campus. The investigation is ongoing, and more details may be provided as they become available.
At 11:18 p.m., Vanderbilt provided another update to News 2, saying two people were still in custody and a total of three people were transported to VUMC with non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the shooting.
On Sunday, Aug. 11, MNPD identified the two men arrested as 38-year-old Enrique Ramirez Sandoval and 27-year-old John Humberto. Officials added that a firearm was located on Sandoval and that he was charged with aggravated assault. Humberto has been charged with the facilitation of aggravated assault for retrieving the gun for Sandoval prior to the shooting.
In addition, MNPD said that one 19-year-old man received a non-critical gunshot wound to the arm, but there was no mention of the two other injured parties Vanderbilt mentioned to News 2.
News 2 got video from one woman who was working inside the dorms at the time of the incident. That footage captured what sounds like a shot ringing out, followed by individuals appearing to beat each other in the parking lot with long objects.
News 2 also spoke with Solalika Singhal, the mother of a Vanderbilt sophomore who was on campus at the time, training to become a resident advisor (RA). Singhal said she had never heard about something like this happening at the university, adding that it was very safe and secure the last time she came to campus to drop her daughter off.
“I think it’s very scary for being a parent and when the kids are alone here, you cannot expect those kinds of things, that somebody with a gun is coming to the campus or something like that. It’s very scary,” Singhal explained.
No additional details have been released about this incident.
