Metro police on Tuesday said two 20-year-old men are in custody in Memphis in connection to a fatal shooting that took place on Tennessee State University's campus last year.
Memphis residents Chris Gatewood and Robert Tunstall have been arrested on charges including first-degree murder after being indicted by a Davidson County Grand Jury in connection to the Oct. 22, 2015 death of 19-year-old Cameron Selmon, Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said.
Selmon, who went by "Lil Cam" and attended Southwest Tennessee Community College, died in a barrage of bullets during the school shooting that also injured three TSU students. A university spokesman confirmed that neither of the suspected gunmen were TSU students.
Selmon's mother, Stacie Payne, said North Precinct Detective Melody Saxon called her this morning and told her about the arrest.
"It's such a relief they are caught," Payne said. "I'm just so happy. This is what we have been campaigning for for 10 months. People have been praying. I'm just thankful."
Members of the United States Marshal’s Task Force, at the request of Metro police, located and arrested Gatewood at his mother’s home on Old Forest Road in Memphis Friday. He has been in the Shelby County Jail as a Nashville fugitive since.
Aaron said Tunstall was taken into custody Tuesday as he visited a parole officer in Memphis. He was convicted for 2014 robbery and felony theft offenses in Shelby County.
On the night Selmon died, a campus security camera caught the gunmen firing into a crowd in the outside courtyard of the Floyd-Payne Campus Center shortly before 11 p.m. Bullets struck Selmon and also hit three 18-year-old freshmen women who were passing the courtyard at the time.
A bullet grazed one woman who refused treatment, police said. The other two were transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where they were treated and released.
A 10-month investigation headed by Saxon alleges that Gatewood and Tunstall are the two men seen in surveillance video firing pistols at Selmon, Aaron said. The investigation showed that a dispute over a dice game escalated into a physical fight and then gunfire.
Aaron said Gatewood and Tunstall are believed to have fled to Memphis shortly after the shooting.
Tennessee State University praised Metro's police work in a statement released Tuesday.
"We commend Metro Nashville Police, especially the lead detective, and others for their commitment to finding and arresting the individuals responsible for this horrific crime," the statement read. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families as the judicial system will now take over the process of prosecuting these individuals. The University will continue to assist Metro Police with its on-going investigation related to this case."
Both Gatewood and Tunstall each face one count of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of violating Tennessee’s Crooks with Guns statute, and one count of felony reckless endangerment.
Aaron said both men will be returned to Nashville in the near future where they will be booked into the Metro Jail.
