MASON, Tenn. — Witnesses said about 100 people gathered in the Volunteer Mart parking lot on the evening of Labor Day to race motorcycles when gunfire rang out from across the street.
Ephram Collier works at the tire shop next door and came to the gathering Monday night.
“By the time I got ready to leave, I get in the car, they was out here shooting,” he said.
Collier and other witnesses said the shots rang out suddenly from the direction of the car wash across the street.
Police said they think two people fired; one used a shotgun. They did not know why.
Neither did Collier, who called the situation complete chaos.
Police said they hit three people in the crowd, including a 62-year-old man identified by friends as a part-time employee of the tire shop.
Witnesses said he was shot three times in the chest and once in the head.
“He’s in critical condition,” Collier said.
“He work hard. He put tires on. He’s a real hardworking man. That’s what I like about him. I can’t believe he got shot. I feel sorry for him,” Dalon Reed said.
Police said two other people also got shot and went to the hospital. They were working to identify potential suspects.
They said the Volunteer Mart did not have a history of issues that required police response.