College didn’t protect 18-year-old shot dead during campus visit in Alabama, suit says
An Alabama university failed to increase security during homecoming week, when 18-year-old La’Tavion Jashun Johnson was killed in a mass shooting, according to a new lawsuit filed by his family.
Tuskegee University didn’t protect Johnson or take steps to prevent weapons on its open campus in Macon County, about a 40-mile drive east from Montgomery, the lawsuit filed Nov. 19 says.
Johnson was visiting the school on Nov. 9, the day of the university’s homecoming football game, and took part in evening “festivities,” according to a complaint.
That night, Jaquez Myrick, 25, is accused of driving onto campus, while armed and equipped with ammunition, the complaint says.
In the early hours of Nov. 10, Myrick randomly opened fire outside of a dormitory, where Johnson was fatally shot, according to the complaint.
Sixteen others, including 12 people who were shot, were hurt, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a Nov. 11 news release.
The violence came during the university’s 100th homecoming week.
Johnson’s parents, Tamika and Larry Johnson Jr., told AL.com that their son was a “hero” and was killed while pushing a girl away from gunfire.
They’re suing Tuskegee University, Myrick, the university’s now-former police chief and several others over his death, accusing the parties of negligence.
The university didn’t respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Nov. 20.
Johnson, who graduated from Charles Henderson High School in Troy, about a 55-mile drive southeast from Montgomery, was set to begin working for the Alabama Department of Transportation before his death, according to AL.com.
“It’s an unfortunate tragedy that could have been avoided with appropriate policing and security measures on the campus,’’ one of the attorneys representing the family, Tedd Mann of Mann & Potter, told AL.com.
“They had a somewhat similar shooting on the campus just a year ago, and we feel like the defendants involved, particularly those at the university and the contractors that were working with the university, really failed to adequately secure the premises of the university,” Mann said.
The morning of Sept. 24, 2023, two people were shot and four were injured in shootings on Tuskegee University’s campus, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Arrests made
No one has been charged directly in connection with killing Johnson or injuring others at the campus, AL.com reported.
A criminal complaint filed Nov. 11 in Montgomery federal court charges Myrick with possession of a machine gun in relation to the shooting, records show.
Myrick was arrested on Nov. 10, when authorities said he was found leaving Tuskegee University, near the site of the shooting, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
He was armed with a handgun that had a machine gun conversion device, authorities said.
Another man, Jeremiah Williams, 20, who was accused of being at the shooting, was also charged with possession of a machine gun in federal court, The Associated Press reported.
A criminal complaint was filed against Williams on Nov. 15, court records show.
Attorneys representing Myrick and Williams in the federal cases didn’t respond to requests for comment.
After Myrick was taken into custody, he told federal agents that “he came to Tuskegee from Montgomery, looking for a party” and heard gunfire about five minutes later, according to an affidavit written by one of the agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Myrick later “confessed to discharging” his “Glock but denied shooting at anyone,” the affidavit says.
The machine gun conversion device on the weapon was “plastic and appears to be 3D printed,” the special agent wrote.
The lawsuit says that Myrick “was allowed to enter the campus with this deadly firearm, and scores of ammunition, without so much as having to show an I.D. or to be required to have his person and/or vehicle scanned, inspected or prohibited from entry onto the campus while possessing a firearm and Ammunition,” the complaint says.
According to the complaint, additional security might have been provided to the football stadium on Nov. 9, during homecoming.
However, there was no extra security provided across the campus, including near student dormitories, the complaint says.
The day following the shooting, Tuskegee University president Dr. Mark Brown said that university Police Chief Terrance Calloway was going to be removed from his position and that the campus would be closed to the public going forward, according to The Associated Press.
Students and staff must have identification with them on school grounds, according to Brown, The Associated Press reported.
Brown said that the shooting happened at a party, and that “We did not nor could we have planned for security at an event that was not approved in advance or sanctioned by the university,” according to the outlet.
“Nonetheless, it happened on our campus, and we take full responsibility for allowing a thorough investigation and implementing corrective actions,” Brown added.
Other defendants named in the lawsuit include International Protection Investigation Agency LLC and its registered agent Reginald Brown, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. and 45 unnamed defendants.
The complaint says the International Protection Investigation agency provided security services to the university and Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. provided “on-site management and security” to campus buildings.
Contact information for the International Protection Investigation Agency and Brown was unavailable.
Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. didn’t respond to a request for comment Nov. 21.
The lawsuit seeks an amount in damages to be determined by a jury at trial, under the Alabama Wrongful Death Act for Minors.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 7:20 AM with the headline "College didn’t protect 18-year-old shot dead during campus visit in Alabama, suit says."
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