Man wanted in deadly IHOP shooting in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Metro Nashville Police are looking to speak with a man in connection with the shooting that killed a teenager and caused his car to crash into an IHOP on January 7.

MNPD believes the man in question is tied to the vehicle from which the gunshots originated. 16-year-old Alexander Delgado was shot that Saturday while driving his car and crashed into the IHOP at Harding Place and Nolensville Road.

Delgado’s car actually broke through the restaurant’s bathroom. He died two days later at the hospital.

Know who this man is? He's wanted for questioning in the 1/7 murder of Alexander Delgado, 16, on Harding Pl. Delgado's car then crashed into a nearby IHOP restaurant. This man is tied to a vehicle from which the shots are believed to have been fired. Have info? 615-742-7463. pic.twitter.com/E2rAhDmugr
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) January 12, 2023

Neighbors near the area said that the shooting actually happened in the IHOP parking lot and left them with unanswered questions.

“It was like several loud bangs,” said neighbor Andrew Pickett.

Pickett said he hears things like this all the time from his apartment along Harding Place.

“There’s a lot of racing around here, so sometimes we hear cars backfiring so that’s what we assumed it was,” Pickett said.

Minutes later, Pickett said he knew something was off.

“Pretty quickly after that, we heard a lot of sirens and that’s not an unnatural occurrence, but then they kept coming,” Pickett said.

That’s when he realized all of the sirens and gunshots were coming from an IHOP just feet away.

“A few minutes later, they shut the road down, and I started seeing cops with flashlights start patrolling the street as if they were looking for something,” Pickett said.

Metro Police said a little after midnight on Saturday morning, a shooting broke out at the IHOP while a car crashed into the restaurant’s bathroom.

Pickett said this incident was the furthest thing from shocking.

“The fact that I’m not even blinking twice about this kind of news, which should be a tragedy, and it is a tragedy,” Pickett said. “That’s not okay and I know a lot of people who live around here feel the same way.”

Neighbors hope the victim would be OK.

“You don’t want to see anyone get hurt,” Pickett said.

A GoFundMe has been created to help the victim’s family.

Copyright 2023 WSMV. All rights reserved.