‘Get down, get down’: Shots fired as churchgoers leave funeral, Tennessee cops say
Gunfire erupted as churchgoers were leaving a funeral service for a 19-year-old who died in a shooting, Tennessee officials said.
Two people were hurt when shots were fired outside New Season Church on Saturday, Nov. 26, WZTV reported.
Pastor Dwayne Lewis told WKRN he was inside the Nashville church when shots rang out, prompting people to run toward the altar.
“Everybody was saying, ‘get down, get down,’ so everybody was covering their kids and everything for protection,” Lewis told the TV station.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said churchgoers were filing out of the church when a car pulled up at about 1:40 p.m. People reportedly started shooting from the car, possibly due to a beef between two groups.
“Some of the persons who attended the funeral were also armed, drew their pistols, and shot back at the car,” police wrote in a news release.
The two people injured in the shooting were identified as an 18-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man. They had injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.
Officials said the church had been honoring 19-year-old Terriana Johnson after her death on Nov. 14. Johnson was buried later on Nov. 26.
She is remembered in an online obituary for having a “big heart and smile.” But her life was cut short when officials said she was shot and killed near Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Nashville.
“Witnesses stated two females were fighting in the parking lot when a small crowd surrounded them and a man fired several rounds in the air, then into the group,” police wrote in a news release.
A 17-year-old is facing a “juvenile court arrest order” for criminal homicide in Johnson’s death, according to police.
Now, officers are searching for information about the car that reportedly drove by Johnson’s funeral. Anyone with details about the car — described as a “black Honda Civic with a temporary tag” — is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.
This story was originally published November 28, 2022 at 2:37 PM with the headline "‘Get down, get down’: Shots fired as churchgoers leave funeral, Tennessee cops say."
