Martin Police Chief discusses fatal shooting from Wednesday night

MARTIN, Tenn. — According to the City of Martin’s Chief of Police, Don Teal, just before noon on Wednesday, his officers received a call of a possible shooting that happened just outside of downtown Martin on Hillsboro Street.

“Around 11:30 yesterday morning, officers received a call of an individual that had possibly been shot around the area of Number 5 Hillsboro Street in Martin,” Chief Teal said. “So when our officers responded, they found a victim inside Number 5 Hillsboro bleeding from a gunshot wound.”

Officers are still investigating.

Chief Teal says there is no motive at this time. However, they believe there was some sort of altercation that happened just outside of Number 5 Hillsboro Street. He says there were several witnesses that were outside.

“At this point, we don’t have a motive,” Teal said. “We’re still investigating that. Haven’t run that down yet. We do know that there was several witnesses to this. The shooting, we believe happened somewhere in the front of Number 5 Hillsboro. Either in the street or in the yard, there was some individuals involved. Apparently some disagreement or altercation occurred and the shooting took place.”

According to a press release sent out Wednesday night, around 9 p.m. on Sidonia Road in Weakley County, the Martin Police Department, with the help of the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office, was able to arrest 55-year-old Lawrence Rodriguez. They are now charging him with first degree murder and aggravated assault.

Thursday afternoon, Martin Police identified the victim as 28-year-old Nicko Santiago.

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