Richland West End man shot at trying to run off car burglars

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A man who lives in the Richland West End neighborhood was shot at as he tried to run off a group of car burglars, he said.

The man, who wishes to remain unnamed, said Wednesday, May 17 around 3 a.m. he was outside on his porch. He saw a group of people dressed in all black and wearing masks, smashing the window of his neighbor’s Jeep. He said he ran at them to scare them off, then they ran away.

He said without warning, one of the masked people turned around and fired a gun at him. The bullet missed him but went through his neighbor’s house.

No one was injured in the incident. The Metro Nashville Police Department is investigating the incident as a aggravated assault.

The same morning, there were several reports of car break-ins in the same neighborhood.

Matt Lott and his girlfriend live in the West End Condos. They said both of their car windows were smashed, but nothing was taken.

“They had opened like the glove box and the center console rifled through everything,” Lott said. “I had like a calculator and toilet paper and stuff was just splayed out everywhere. They had been searching for something. But they didn’t take anything. And that seemed to have been the consensus from everyone else we talked to in the complex.”

Lott said the property manager told him around 10 total cars were broken into that morning.

“If somebody is in a situation where they need to go break into 10,20 plus cars to try to make ends meet,” he said. “I mean, that’s a horrible situation. So if anything, I get more concerned about what other people are going through versus what happened to my stuff.”

MNPD is investigating the reported break-ins and the gun shot incident to figure out if they are related.

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