“In an average year, 1,019 people die and 2,050 are wounded by guns in Virginia. Virginia has the 29th-highest rate of gun violence in the US.”
This statistic from EveryStat is a reminder that firearm-related violence is still very much a part of life here, not only in Virginia, but in the United States as well. The recent events in the JMU area are reminders that gun violence isn’t too far from EMU’s own campus.
At approximately 2:20am on Sunday, Oct. 16, multiple gunshots were fired into a crowd at an outdoor gathering in the 1500 block of Devon Ln. near Foxhill Townhomes, an off-campus housing that caters to James Madison University (JMU) students. The event took place less than a mile from JMU’s campus; this is around a 13 minute drive from EMU.
The incident left eight people with non-life-threatening injuries. No deaths occurred during the shooting.
JMU students were alerted of the event through JMU’s LiveSafe app, where a “shelter in place” notice was ordered.
Later that afternoon, 20-year-old Tyreaf Isaiah Fleming was arrested as a suspect in the shooting. According to a press release from the city of Harrisonburg, Fleming is facing charges of “attempted murder, aggravated malicious wounding, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.”
The investigation remains open as the possibility of additional suspects is looked into.
Though none of the victims, who ranged from ages 18 to 27, were current JMU students, the event became the second gun-related incident to occur in the JMU area within a week.
According to JMU’s campus newspaper, The Breeze, a student was robbed by an unknown individual in the early morning of Oct. 10. The individual, who produced a firearm, took the victim’s backpack and struck them. The incident took place in the R-16 parking lot of JMU’s campus.
In a statement from JMU Police Department regarding the outdoor shooting, Chief Anthony Matos advises students “to travel in groups, lock your doors, be aware of your surroundings, know the individuals you welcome into your living space and always report suspicious people and behavior to police immediately.”
Chief Matos asks that the individuals injured in the incident are kept in our thoughts as they recover.
When witnessing or being victim to an on-campus crime or emergency, the EMU website urges students to “contact campus security at 4911 from a campus phone or 540-432-4911 from an off-campus phone.” Additional safety information can be found at https://emu.edu/safety-and-security/.
