Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25, an immigrant from Sudan, allegedly shot and killed Melanie Crow Smith, 39, in the parking lot of the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee around 11:15 am on Sunday.
Samson, who was wearing a mask, then went inside the church, where he shot and injured six more people, including Pastor Joey Spann and his wife. Pastor Spann remains in critical condition.
Witnesses say Samson pistol whipped 22-year old Caleb Engle as he entered the church, but Engle ran to his car in the parking lot where he retrieved his legally permitted gun, returned to the inside of the church building, and was able to keep Samson at bay until police arrived. Some reports indicate that Samson may have accidentally shot himself during his shooting spree. If so, the injuries were minor, as he was seen walking unaided after being taken into police custody.
Engle was taken to a local hospital for treatment of head wounds received from the pistol whipping. His injuries are not life threatening.
WKRN anchor Nikki Burdine sent this tweet out about Engle late Sunday:
HERO: 22-yr-old Robert Caleb Engle, usher at church who held suspect, Emanuel Samson until police arrived: https://t.co/no5sePRPCP @WKRN pic.twitter.com/BL647tIJBe
— Nikki Burdine (@NikkiBurdine) September 24, 2017
“In addition to being a minister, Joey Spann teaches at the Nashville Christian School,” WKRN reported.
Director of Communications Tracy Brothers sent an alert to the NCS Family Sunday afternoon:
As you may already know, one of our Bible teachers, Joey Spann, and his wife were both injured in the church shooting this morning at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch. We do not have any additional information at this time but want to boldly ask you to pray. Please lift up Coach Joey Spann and his wife Peggy and all who have been injured or impacted by this tragic event. We will keep you informed when we have more information. Thank you for being a part of our family of faith and for interceding on behalf of the Spanns. – Tracy Brothers, Director of Communications, Nashville Christian School
In an updated email, Tracy Brothers reports that Joey Spann is now in critical but stable condition, and Peggy Spann is in stable condition.Spann is a coach for the Varsity Girls’ Basketball team and teaches Bible at Nashville Christian. He is widely known as Coach Spann and popular with his students.
“The suspect, Emanuel Kidega Samson, is under police guard at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, the Nashville Metro Police Department said. He is a former member of the church, police said,” Heavy.com reported:
Officers were called to the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch about 11:15 a.m. for a report of an active shooter, police said. They found the suspect being held at gunpoint by the usher and several victims in need of medical attention, along with a woman who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound in the church’s parking lot.
“The two critical patients suffered gunshot wounds to (their) chest and torso. The four other patients suffered gunshot wounds to their extremities,” John Howser told The Tennessean.A seventh shooting victim was hospitalized at another medical center and his or her condition is not known. And the usher, who was pistol whipped after confronting the shooter, was also hospitalized with a head injury that is not life-threatening, according to police.
Multiple press reports stated that Samson, the alleged shooter, was born in Sudan and immigrated to the United States in the 1990s. It is unclear what is current immigrant status is and whether he is a citizen of the United States.
NewsChannel 5 reported the FBI and other federal agencies have opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting.
The US Attorneys Office released a statement about the now opened civil rights investigation into church shooting. @NC5 pic.twitter.com/PMTqMMmfzW
— Matthew Torres (@NC5_MTorres) September 24, 2017
