1 Dead After Shooting at Opry Mills Mall
One person is dead after an "ongoing dispute" resulted in gunfire at the Opry Mills shopping mall in Nashville on Thursday (May 3) afternoon. Shortly after the shooting, Metro Nashville Police said in a tweet that the suspect, whose identity has not been released, was in custody and that there was no imminent threat to the general public; however, the nearby Opryland Resort, among other locations, was placed on lockdown as a precaution.
Nashville police, according to a briefing on Thursday afternoon, received reports of an active shooter at Opry Mills at 2:23 local time; at least two shots were fired following an altercation between 2-3 people in a hallway that resulted in a fight outside of the Lidz and Auntie Anne's locations across from Old Navy. The shooter then fled the scene and ran to a Grand Ole Opry ticket booth located near the mall; he surrendered his pistol to a retired California police officer who was at the booth and took control of the situation.
Both the shooter and the victim were 22 years old and from Nashville; both were known to Nashville police, but it is unclear why the two were fighting. The Nashville Fire Department reported via Twitter shortly after the incident took place that the victim, only identified as an adult male (and originally reported to be an adult female), was transported to the TriStar Skyline Medical Center. They added that reports of a second victim are false.
Opry Mills is adjacent to both the Opryland Resort & Convention Center and the Grand Ole Opry House, all of which are located northeast of downtown Nashville, just off of Briley Parkway. It opened in 2000, on the location of the former Opryland USA theme park, is operated by Simon Property Group and houses about 200 stores. Tennessee Highway Patrol employees were performing motorcycle training in the Bass Pro Shops parking lot at the time, and troopers responded immediately to assist Nashville police.
According to a tweet from Nashville police, the mall was swept as a precaution, and the McGavock Pike ramp to Briley Parkway was closed to vehicles. In addition to the Opryland hotel, Two Rivers Middle School, Pennington Elementary School, McGavock Elementary School, Stanford Montessori and Litton Middle School, all located nearby, were locked out; three students who were at the Academy at Opry Mills when the shooting took place were taken to McGavock High School. All lockdowns and lockouts were lifted around 4PM local time.
This shooting is the second high-profile shooting to take place in the Nashville area in recent weeks: Early on the morning of April 22, a gunman opened fire in a Waffle House in Antioch, Tenn., a city located southeast of Nashville, killing four and injuring four others.