An altercation between external contractors performing maintenance on Sutherland House resulted in a shooting on Saturday that left three people with non-life-threatening injuries, including one 19 year-old man with a non-critical gunshot wound to the arm. A university representative said the investigation is ongoing, but there is no active threat to the campus community.
Two men — 38 year-old Luis Enrique Ramirez Sandoval and 27 year-old Jose Humberto — were arrested at MAPCO on 21st Avenue after the incident. A firearm was found on Sandoval, and he was charged with aggravated assault. Humberto was charged with facilitation of aggravated assault for retrieving the weapon for Sandoval prior to the shooting.
The external contractors were on campus completing unforeseen maintenance work that needed to be completed before Move-In Day on August 17, according to a university representative. Due to the maintenance, RAs and other student early arrivals were living in temporary housing assignments on main campus during the incident. A student — being kept anonymous for protection from retribution — witnessed the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
“I heard two gunshots, so I looked outside the window of Murray House. I saw a man lying face-down in the middle of the parking lot, crying in agony, but I did not see the attacker,” the student said in a message to The Hustler. “At that moment, three other men sprinted over to check if he was alright. After a few seconds, they went to their car and grabbed improvised weapons, such as a baseball bat and a wooden plank, likely to chase down the attacker.”
The student said they immediately called Vanderbilt University Police Department and told them what happened. The first AlertVU message was sent out less than ten minutes after the student’s call, according to the student.
A Commons residential advisor — being kept anonymous for protection from professional retribution — said they were off campus when they received the initial AlertVU message. However, they had to return to campus for an event scheduled by their supervisor before they received the updated alerts saying there was no longer a threat.
“They didn’t even delay the event due to the safety concern, so I drove into campus during the active alert,” the anonymous RA said in a message to The Hustler. “No one stopped us or had any safety measures for incoming people. I think that they treated the Commons houses as if they were empty, ignoring that RAs, who are students, were living there.”
The RA also said the alerts were helpful in terms of keeping them aware of what was going on and that they thought the situation was handled quickly.
“I have not had safety concerns on campus up to this point,” the RA said. “I know others feel differently about the situation, but I viewed it as a one-off rather than a continued threat. The thing that worries me is that a gun was so easily brought onto campus.”
Tennessee state law allows people to store a firearm and ammunition in their car even on private property, provided the car is allowed to be parked in its location and that the firearm or ammunition in the car is kept from ordinary observation if the person is in the car or kept from ordinary observation and locked up if the person is not in the car. This law applies to people with a permit to carry and people who “open carry,” which is legal in Tennessee.
“Beyond that, Vanderbilt can and does restrict weapons on campus to protect the safety and well-being of the Vanderbilt community. The university takes action when its policies are violated and/or when the safety of the campus is jeopardized,” a university representative said in a message to The Hustler. “Also, the university always strives to improve its processes and has initiated a third-party review of its procurement policies involving contractors.”
First-year Eli Vickers will be living in Sutherland House this fall and expressed appreciation for the university’s alert system.
“I’m still looking forward to moving in, and I’m glad for the AlertVU system that the university has in place,” Vickers said.
Sutherland’s Faculty Head of House Chezare Warren did not immediately respond to The Hustler’s request for comment on the incident.
