In many mass shootings the suspect is killed or takes his own life, but that didn't happen at the Antioch church massacre. The accused shooter survived. NewsChannel 5 has learned that the phone calls he made from jail may be used in court.
Shooting suspect, Emanuel Samson may wish he never made them. Samson's lawyer filed a legal challenge to keep those calls secret.
Phone Calls Reveal Mindset Of Accused Antioch Church Shooter
Shocking New Revelations From Accused Church Shooter Phone Calls
Many could agree that Emanuel Samson is an exception when it comes to this type of crime. Most accused mass shooters die by their own hand or by police.
Samson was shot, but survived and in the month since his arrest he's made more than 140 calls from his Davidson County jail cell, which were obtained by NewsChannel 5.
"This honestly reminds me of our childhood. You know. You're locked up in a room or a house. You're locked in a room. You're locked in your house," said Samson in one call describing life behind bars to a friend.
Samson was accused of killing Melanie Crow Smith and injuring six others in a September shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch.
His lawyers don't want Samson's calls made public. Why?
"It's very important what you say in these phone calls because a lot of people are listening," said Newschannel 5 Legal Analyst Nick Leonardo.
He said Samson's words could come back to haunt him. There was talk of Samson being suicidal and hearing voices in the weeks before the church shooting.
"If you are going to try to allege he is not competent, but he has 140 phone calls where he sounds like he knows what is going on it will be hard to raise that kind of defense," said Leonardo.
We've learned from Samson's calls to his girlfriend that she is pregnant with his first child, and they had an argument leading him to drive away from their home the morning of the church shooting.
"Everything about that day ... Man, dude. It's just like to say that I would be a fool to leave you," said Samson in one call to the girlfriend.
She responded saying, "I seen you in a way saying goodbye to the kids. Your gestures you were doing the way ... the things you were saying. You were saying goodbye."
And then Samson said, "You know what? You're are right. That is exactly what I was saying to them or whatever."
These calls come from a man prone to anger and suicidal tendencies.
Was he saying goodbye for good? Did he leave that day with plans to shoot up a church? The jailhouse phone calls will raise these types of questions if and when they are played in court.
NewsChannel 5 is the only media outlet with copies of Samson's phone calls, but a legal challenge was still pending to have them sealed from all media.
A judge will likely decide later this week.
