A shooting at Vanderbilt University's campus has left three people injured and two in custody, according to reports from local authorities and the university. WATE reports that the shooting was first called in as a disorderly crowd near the Sutherland House, a dorm building on the campus, at about 4:30 p.m., with the call shortly upgraded to a shooting, as reported by WATE. The incident involved external contractors working at the unoccupied dormitory and erupted over an employment termination.
Initially, the response from law enforcement was dual-fold, with both the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Vanderbilt University Police Department (VUPD) arriving on the scene. MNPD told WATE that two suspects—one armed—were apprehended at a nearby MAPCO gas station. While Vanderbilt announced that there were no ongoing threats to the community, the confusion about the number of individuals in custody arose when Vanderbilt later stated that five people had been taken into custody, a number subsequently corrected to two by evening.
Three individuals were confirmed to have been transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. One of the injured sustained a gunshot wound to the arm, as detailed by FOX17.
Witnesses described the scene as chaotic—one student recounted seeing people running around, and police converging on the location, capturing the unnerving moment as they witnessed a person on the ground with others converging onto them. “I do start to question my safety after this,” the student relayed in an interview with WSMV4.
