Police officer, woman shot near Notre Dame after football tailgates

A single gunshot during a post-tailgate fight near Notre Dame’s South Bend, Indiana campus struck a woman and a police officer Saturday night, authorities said.

The initial violence erupted around 7:30 p.m. ET just as crowds were leaving the university’s tailgating areas and heading toward Eddy Street Commons. According to South Bend authorities, Notre Dame Police told them a male suspect was seen armed and reportedly pointing a gun at people, but when South Bend Police found a suspect matching their description, the person was unarmed.

“As approximately 20 South Bend Police Officers were working in Eddy Street Commons and responding to that call, a single gunshot was heard near Eddy Street and Angela Boulevard,” South Bend Police said in a Facebook post.

The post said officers soon found a woman with a non-life-threatening leg wound, and a South Bend Police officer with an injury from either a ricochet or shrapnel.

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Both victims were transported to a local hospital and are expected to make full recoveries. Police said the officer was “doing fine,” and that the woman was “okay.”

Notre Dame officials said the suspected shooter fled west from the scene, NBC 5 Chicago reported. The suspect reportedly remains at large. and was described as a heavyset Black male with dreadlocks, wearing blue shorts, a black shirt with a red and blue design on the front, and missing one shoe, according to the local report.

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Following the incident, police swiftly evacuated nearby businesses and parking garages. The South Bend Police Department locked down the busy commercial district for an active investigation, urging the public to avoid the area while a heavy police presence secured the scene.

Fox News Digital reached out to the South Bend Police Department for comment, but a spokeswoman did not have anything to add other than referencing what the department posted on Facebook.

Another shooting later in the night, roughly one mile away, left at least two dead and another critically injured. There was no indication from police that the incidents were related, though.