College hoops player Andre Bell, 20, killed in highway shooting

Andre Bell, a 20-year-old college basketball player, was fatally shot in the head on a Nashville highway on Sunday, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said Monday in a media release.

Bell, a Fisk University sophomore from Jackson, Tennessee, later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The investigation, led by the MNPD’s Homicide Unit, is ongoing.

Police said Bell and two friends had been at a gymnastics event at the fairgrounds before heading back to campus in Bell’s white Nissan Sentra — adding Bell’s friends reported noticing a dark sedan in the left lane beside them.

After realizing Bell had been shot, the two unnamed friends told police the Sentra slowed and spun back into traffic before colliding with a red pickup truck.

The dark sedan kept going. 

Police said the vehicle, in which the shots were fired, likely has windshield damage due to shattered glass at the scene.

Fisk University said it joins the athletic department in mourning “the tragic loss” of Bell.

“Today, we lost a leader on and off the basketball court. Andre ‘Dre,’ a young, bright, and gentle young man, was unfairly snatched from this world,” said Jeremiah Crutcher, Head Coach of the Fisk University men’s basketball team.

“He was a dominant force on the Fisk University Men’s Basketball team, but he was most remembered for his infectious smile, loving personality, and unique ability to always bring warmth to a room. We now have a deep absence in our program, but more importantly, we have a deep pain in our hearts. He will be truly missed. Our thoughts and unwavering prayers are with his family and the little kids in his family and in Nashville who looked up to him.”

Bell was majoring in business administration.

He previously played high school football at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Jackson.