‘It’s sad': Business owner recalls Saturday’s shooting on Jefferson Street
Nine were injured and one was killed on Saturday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Countless loved ones are remembering 24-year-old Vonquae Johnson. Johnson was shot and killed Saturday following a shooting that injured nine others.
It happened on the 2700 block of Jefferson Street just after 5 p.m. Now, people who work in Price Plaza said they wish people would think before they shoot.
Price Plaza is just a few feet away from where the shooting happened. Sitting in the window of Seafood Sensation, in the plaza, there’s a sign that says, “Bullets have no eyes.”
Herb O’Neal, the general manager of the restaurant, shares why it was placed there in the first place.
“You know just a statement of safety,” O’Neal said.
It’s a message O’Neal says needs to be heard a little louder following Saturday’s shooting.
“Bullets travel far distances,” O’Neil said. “People shooting up in the air that bullet is going to come down and hit somebody.”
On Saturday, O’Neal who is also over security at the plaza says he jumped into action.
“I was in the restaurant and I actually heard the shots, saw a bunch of folks walking in that direction and I saw the police cars come through the parking lot,” O’Neal said. “So I ran out to see what was going on and went straight into security mode and ran down to the commotion to see if I could help out in any matter.”
As someone who is planted in this area, O’Neal says Saturday’s incident was isolated.
“This area you have the good [and] the bad kind of sitting in the middle of both of them and react when you need to react and that’s what I did," O’Neal said
He thinks the public should know the shooting had nothing to do with TSU.
“I see people putting it out there like that but TSU had nothing to do with to do with this....it’s sad, it’s very sad,“ O’Neal said.
But his biggest takeaway goes back to that sign on the door.
“If you try to aim at somebody, you may miss that person. Just like what happened Saturday,” O’Neal said.
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