Oct. 16 (UPI) — Authorities in Nashville have arrested two suspects accused of involvement in a gang-related shooting that killed one person and wounded nine others following a homecoming parade at Tennessee State University over the weekend.
The Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement that Marquez Davis and DeAnthony Brown, both 24, were arrested Monday night by Specialized Investigations Division TITANS detectives at a short-term rental facility on 26th Ave N.
Both suspects have been charged with criminal homicide for the mass shooting that erupted at about 5 p.m. EDT Saturday, after much of the crowd had left the homecoming parade area at Jefferson St. and 27th Ave N. near the university.
Authorities said investigations indicate that five people affiliated with local gangs had indiscriminately opened fire on one another.
Vonquae Johnson, 24, who is believed to have been one of the shooters, was fatally shot, according to police. Two other suspects were wounded and hospitalized.
The Metro Nashville Police Department noted four of the five people suspected of involvement in the shooting had prior criminal records, including Davis, who was convicted six months earlier on charges of robbery, felony possession of the drug Ecstasy for resale and felony gun possession. He received a 10-year probated sentence to the Community Correction Program.
Davis was carrying a large firearm before detectives apprehended him Monday night, authorities said.
“The shooters had no regard for human life and put a crowd of innocent persons, including children, in extreme danger,” Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said in a statement. “The entire criminal justice system must treat violent gun crime with the seriousness it demands with resulting incarceration for those convicted.”