Violence mars HBCU homecoming weekends in Mississippi and South Carolina; 2 women killed

Homecoming season at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is typically associated with celebration, but for two universities in Mississippi and one in South Carolina, the past two weekends’ reunions were marred by violence. 

Unconnected shootings at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., and Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss., left one woman dead and multiple people injured, including at least one child in the Jackson incident.

In Alcorn, the shooting that claimed the life of 29-year-old Brekyra Fisher of Vicksburg, Miss., happened on campus at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, near the university’s Industrial Technology Building, according to the Claiborne County coroner’s office. Two others were injured and no arrests have been made at this time. 

According to the Hinds County Sheriff’s office, one child was injured in a shooting on Saturday evening near the tailgating section at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, where the homecoming football game between Jackson State and Alabama State University was played. The child was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center; there is no suspect information available yet. 

The shootings at the HBCU homecomings in Mississippi follow a weekend where one woman was killed and a male was shot on the campus of South Carolina State University, an HBCU in Orangeburg, S.C., during homecoming festivities on the night of October 4th. Neither of the two who were shot was a student at the university, but were visiting friends.

The woman who died was identified as 19-year-old Jaliyah Butler; she was killed in a residence hall on campus.

As in the other incidents in Mississippi, there have been no arrests in the incidents directly connected to those shootings, though an arrest was made regarding a person on campus who presented and pointed a gun into a crowd during a homecoming activity on that Saturday night.