by Chris Cannon
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - An early morning drive-by shooting in Murfreesboro turned a family celebration into a Labor Day tragedy.
51-year-old Mickey Simmons of Demopolis, Ala. was killed when he shielded a young boy from a barrage of bullets just after midnight Monday.
"He grabbed him and pulled him to the ground and when he hit the ground the gun shot him, hit him," said Simmons' cousin Deborah Tuma.
Simmons was in Murfreesboro to celebrate a wedding with his family. He was in the front yard of a home on E. Chestnut St. when the shooting happened.
"He saved my nephew and got himself killed. Got shot in the neck," Tuma said.
Neighbors in the area, not far from downtown Murfreesboro, heard the gunshots.
"One right after another, just shooting, one right after the another," said James Hartley who lives across the street.
He said after the gunfire stopped he could hear family members screaming in the front yard of the home.
"I was in the house and I heard them say he's shot, he's dead. Some girl was hollering, couldn't tell what she was saying. I could tell it wasn't good," Hartley said.
Rescue crews rushed Simmons to a local hospital where he later died.
"They got a pulse when they got him to the hospital, but they said it a real weak one and they lost him, they couldn't get him back," according to Tuma
Monday afternoon family members thought they spotted the car the gunman was riding in. They gave chance down the street. The car they suspected was not involved the early morning shooting.
The only description Murfreesboro Police have to work with is the shooter was riding in a gray Chevrolet Impala with tinted windows.
If you have any information that could help Murfreesboro Police you can call Crime Stoppers at 615-893-STOP.
email: ccannon@newschannel5.com
