Shooting in Nashville restaurant: A man was murdered and five others injured in a shooting inside a Nashville, Tennessee, restaurant during Easter brunch in the afternoon, authorities said.
According to CBS Nashville station WTVF-TV, a pregnant lady was transported to the hospital after experiencing a panic attack.
One dead, 5 wounded in shooting at Easter brunch in Nashville restaurant
The incident happened at 3 p.m. in the city’s Salemtown district, only minutes after the male suspect arrived at Roasted restaurant with a lady, according to police.
The suspect and the guy who died got into a fight that “significantly escalated within moments,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron said during a press conference on the site.
“It’s Easter Sunday, everybody’s dressed up, which is the last thing you’d expect,” Carly Payne, who lives nearby and saw the aftermath, told WTVF. “My heart was out of my chest, I knew I needed to get inside, and then obviously I knew first thing was to call 911.”
Police subsequently identified the dead guy as Allen Beachem, 33. The other victims were not seriously injured, according to authorities.
Police identified a 46-year-old suspect and the Mercedes GLS 450 he fled in, using photographs from the restaurant’s CCTV camera. As the hunt for the culprit continued Sunday, authorities shared photographs of the shooting scene on social media, including one showing a guy brandishing a firearm.
“The shooter was the only one brandishing a weapon. This was not a shootout; it was one individual who chose to bring out a pistol after an encounter with another man and then fired numerous bullets,” Aaron added.
According to Police Commander Anthony McClain, patrons attempted to flee the eatery, causing panic inside.
“Some people did try to resist the gunman,” McClain added. “It was just mass chaos.”
According to Aaron, investigators were in local hospitals on Sunday interviewing victims to establish what occurred.
“It may have been something as simple as one person invading another person’s space,” he went on to say.
