The Martin Police Department is continuing to investigate two recent shootings in apartment complexes close to the UTM campus.
No arrests have been made yet in what MPD Chief Don Teal termed a complex investigation that is being run with help from multiple agencies, including UTM’s Office of Public Safety. Teal said the investigation is in the early stages, with developing leads and information.
Two men were injured in the shootings, the first of which occurred about 12:55 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at The Station apartment complex on West Peach Street in Martin. According to a press release from MPD, Charles Brown III, 23, was shot when he and two other men, Antonio Hogard Jr., 24, and Adrian Oliver, 27, were confronted by multiple people who attempted an armed robbery.
Brown was taken to West Tennessee Healthcare in Martin and then flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, where he was treated and released the same day.
The second shooting occurred about 2:37 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at Cambridge Studio Apartments on Lee Street in Martin. UTM student Hunter L. Williams, 21, a Management major from Medina, Tennessee, was found lying on a couch in the apartment with wounds to his right side. Martin Police said Williams told them that several people kicked in the front door of his apartment and shot him.
Martin EMS treated Williams, who was then airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. Williams had not been released from the hospital as of press time, but Teal said Williams may be released Thursday.
Meanwhile, UTM Public Safety Director Scott Robbins sent an email to all faculty, staff and students Monday night, Nov. 11, to allay fears that more shots had been fired near campus.
“The Martin Police Department and the Campus Police Department has received calls tonight about possible shots fired in the area of the Station Apartments and around the phase two area of campus. Police have responded to both calls and have determined, by talking with people who were outside when the complaints were made and by talking with the persons who called the complaint in, that there is no danger to the campus. The people outside heard no gunshots and the callers who called in the complaint only heard muffled noises that could not be positively identified as gunshots. Officers will be giving these areas extra patrol tonight,” the email read in part.
Teal said those complaints also are part of the ongoing investigation. In response to rumors flying on social media that police had arrested a woman who was using a pit bull as a decoy to help the armed robbery suspects, Teal said he was certainly aware of the rumors but that no woman had been arrested by Martin officers.
Also, while Teal said the close timing of the shootings was concerning, no evidence exists to show whether the shootings may have been related or the reasons why the shootings occurred. Teal added that statistics do show Martin as the seventh safest city in Tennessee.
Public Safety Lt. Chad Worley said students need to simply be careful, travel in pairs or groups, and remain aware of their surroundings, particularly after dark. More safety and crime prevention information is available on the Public Safety website, www.utm.edu/departments/publicsafety/crimeprevention.php.
If anyone has any information on either shooting, call Martin Police at 731-587-5355, Public Safety at 731-881-7777, or Crimestoppers at 731-587-2611.
