Holly MatkinNashville, TN – Eight people were shot early Sunday morning after two men got into a heated argument over a dog, according to police.
The Metro Nashville Police Department is still working to identify the two suspects involved in the exchange of gunfire, according to the Tennessean.
The incident occurred in the area of Second Avenue North and Commerce at approximately 1 a.m. on Nov. 8, WJAX reported.
Police said a group of people were socializing near the intersection when some of them began arguing over a dog that one of the men had with him, according to the Tennessean.
The man with the dog allegedly pulled out a gun, at which point another member of the group left to go get his own gun and a few more men.
When they returned several minutes later, the two armed men allegedly began shooting at one another, the Tennessean reported.
Randell Stroud, 33, said he was in the area when he suddenly heard gunfire behind him, WKRN reported.
“The first shot, it came from behind me to the left and it scraped the side of my head back here,” Stroud told the news outlet. “It hit me and I felt this intense pressure and this intense kind of burning heat. It was four or five shots all in repetition bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!”
He said the scene instantly became complete “pandemonium,” WKRN reported.
Stroud was one of eight people hit by gunfire during the incident.
He said he suffered a graze wound, and that emergency personnel called him “a walking miracle.”
“If that bullet went just an inch – a little bit more to the right – this would be a completely different situation,” Stroud told WKRN.
He said he never saw the attack coming and that he never ascertained where the gunfire was coming from.
Stroud was treated at the scene and driven home by one of the Nashville police officers as the other victims were taken to area hospitals, WKRN reported.
The dog involved in the shootout was hit in the hip, according to the Tennessean.
A bystander rushed the wounded animal to an emergency vet, but its condition is unknown, Nashville Fire Department Community Services Manager Joseph Pleasant told the paper.
All of the victims of the attack were alert and able to communicate with first responders, according to Pleasant.
None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
Investigators recovered one handgun at the scene, according to the Tennessean.
