At 11:40 am the police released a press statement that read.
On May 19th, 2013 at approximately 7:53pm the Smyrna Police Department was notified of a possible shooting in the area of Mason Tucker Drive and Sam Ridley Parkway. Shortly after that Stone Crest Hospital contacted the police department and stated they had a victim of a gunshot wound in their emergency room.
Detectives have been able to piece together that earlier in the night Mr. Cordarius Johnson, age 22, of Smyrna was sitting in his vehicle with his girlfriend at Hilltop-Rosenwald Park in Smyrna when two black males entered his back seat and demanded Mr. Johnson’s and his girlfriend’s money and cell phones. A crowd that was at the park began to move towards the vehicle which caused the two suspects to flee to a white Ford Escort which was parked at the park.
Mr. Johnson stated that he left the park in his vehicle to go to his home to retrieve his handgun, to which he is a licensed permit holder in the state of Tennessee. Mr. Johnson stated that he drove his vehicle towards Sam Ridley Parkway on Mason Tucker Drive when he pulled up next to the suspects in the white Ford Escort.
Mr. Johnson claims that someone in the vehicle began shooting at him and that he returned fire from his handgun. He then later came to the Smyrna Police Department to report he had been involved in this situation. The individual shot was Tazarius Leach, age 21, of Lavergne. There are several conflicting stories from parties involved in this and detectives are still investigating the case. When there are more details to report we will gladly update you on those.A shootout in Smyrna in a residential area is not good, and I am disappointed that a certified gun permit holder went to get a gun and returned. Deescalating a situation is always best.
3 comments:
"Mr. Johnson stated that he left the park in his vehicle to go to his home to retrieve his handgun, to which he is a licensed permit holder in the state of Tennessee. Mr. Johnson stated that he drove his vehicle towards Sam Ridley Parkway on Mason Tucker Drive when he pulled up next to the suspects in the white Ford Escort.
Mr. Johnson claims that someone in the vehicle began shooting at him and that he returned fire from his handgun"
Something about this timeline doesn't make sense-
I suspect the story will morph over the next few days. It does imply that maybe some increases in patrols of that area are needed.
This is very sad, I live in this neighborhood and have two small children as do many others, we have to protect our children and keep our neighborhoods safe! Smyrna has beautiful parks and the premise of them I thought was for families to get out and enjoy them. There has been plenty of times that it was more than obvious that something was going to happen at the basketball court there! I hope this has opened the eyes of not only the police but families to report any suspicious behavior at our parks to keep them safe and fun for our kids!! As you said there will be more to this story and I'm sure that we both know what that MORE is:(...
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