NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Business owners on Murfreesboro Pike say their concerns about crime in the area are growing after a shooting sent four people to the hospital over the weekend.
Metro Nashville Police said the suspect in the shooting got into a fight outside of the Egyptian-Latino Tobacco Market at the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Millwood Drive. Police said the suspect then got a gun from his car and shot four people. All four victims were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
"I heard two shootings, then I said, 'hey, somebody's shooting here!'" George Hanna, who owns the Cricket Wireless store a few businesses away from the shooting scene, said.
Hanna, who has owned the shop for more than two decades, said the sound of gunshots has become common along this stretch of Murfreesboro Pike.
According to a Metro Nashville Police report presented at last week's Compstat meeting, the 1.7 mile stretch of Murfreesboro Pike from I-24 to Briley Parkway contains three of the top five most violent intersections over the last three months. At the time of the report, the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Pavilion Blvd. had 17 violent incidents in the time frame, while the intersections of Murfreesboro Pike and Millwood Drive and Murfreesboro Pike and Thompson Lane each had 14 violent crimes.
Hanna said the crimes have become more common over the last year, and it has impacted business.
"The customers start staying away from my business, going somewhere else to shop, business is going down, it's very hard to staff every time somebody gets shot," Hanna said, adding that luckily there have been no violent crimes at or near his store.
Now he's calling on the city to do something about the area and worries that he will have to close up shop next.
