Tennessee Church Shooting: 5 Things To Know

ANTIOCH, TN — Shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, 25-year-old Emanuel Samson arrived at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee. He then shot and killed a 39-year-old woman in the parking lot before he entered the church's sanctuary — where he had attended services a few years ago — and injured several others, according to Nashville police. Eventually, he was subdued by a church usher, treated for an accidental gunshot wound at the hospital, arrested and charged with murder.

Here's what you need to know:

Samson has confessed, according to police

So far, Samson is charged only with one count of criminal homicide for killing Melanie Crow Smith, a 39-year-old Smyrna woman, though investigators expect to file more charges as the investigation continues and as the extent of the injuries to a half-dozen other people are determined.

In the charging document, Metro Nashville Police say that Samson waived his rights to silence and to an attorney and said "he was armed with a handgun and that he fired upon the church building."

Samson is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday morning.

Samson may face federal civil rights charges

The FBI and the ATF were on the scene at the church Sunday, along with Metro Police. A spokesman for the Middle Tennessee U.S. Attorney's office said the FBI is working to determine if federal charges will be brought against Samson.

"The Memphis FBI Field Office's Nashville Resident Agency, the Civil Rights Division, and the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee have opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee," spokesman David Boling said. "The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence. As this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time."

Samson had a threatened suicide at least once before and made a series of bizarre Facebook posts before Sunday's shooting.

According to Murfreesboro Police, on June 27, Samson sent his father a text reading : “... I have a gun to my head, have a nice F------ life," The Tennessean reported. His father called MPD. Officers went to Samson's house to find it empty and then pinged his cell phone, which placed him at 1400 Donelson Pike in Nashville, an office park containing, among other things, the local office of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service and medical testing company LabCorp. At a Thursday news conference, MNPD spokesman Don Aaron said officers responded and determined that Samson was not a threat to himself or others and reported that to Murfreesboro Police.

MPD told the newspaper officers also responded to two domestic violence calls related to Samson, but no charges were made in either case.

Samson told police he arrived at the church at 10:55 a.m., according to an affidavit. Thirty-seven minutes prior, Samson posted the first in a series of odd messages on his Facebook page.

A 22-year-old church usher is being lauded as a hero

Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said 22-year-old Caleb Engle is a "hero" who stopped further bloodshed.

When Samson entered the sanctuary and allegedly began "firing indiscriminately," Engle, a lifelong member of the congregation and an usher, stepped up, confronting Samson. Samson, an avid bodybuilder, then "viciously pistol-whipped" Engle, according to police, causing serious injuries to his head and face. Undeterred, Engle, a handgun-carry permit holder, rushed to his car in the parking lot to retrieve his own gun, police say.

With six of his fellow church members, including minister Joey Spann, injured in the shooting, Engle came back inside and was able to subdue Samson and hold him at bay until help arrived, according to police. Sometime during this struggle, Samson himself was hurt, struck in the chest by an apparently accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a statement, Engle downplayed his role as a hero, instead giving credit to police and first responders, and asked for prayers for his fellow parishioners and for Samson and his family.

The church's critically injured minister is a long-time teacher and coach

Joey Spann, the minister of the small, multi-ethnic church, also teaches Bible classes at Nashville Christian School, where he coaches the middle and high school girls' basketball teams. He previously taught and coached at Goodpasture and Ezell-Harding. In 2011, while coaching at Goodpasture, Spann had a heart attack during a game against David Lipscomb Campus School and was saved with the use of an automatic external defibrillator.

Parishioners said Spann yelled "Run!" when he realized what was happening Sunday.

He is in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His wife, Peggy, is in stable condition.

Three other victims are still hospitalized: William Jenkins, 83; Marlene Jenkins, 84; and Linda Bush, 68. All are in stable condition at Vanderbilt. Engle and Catherine Dickerson, 64, were taken to Skyline Medical Center and have been released.

Image via Charlie Saunier, used with permission