Neighbors search for answers after east Jackson shooting sends one to hospital

JACKSON, Tenn– Violence strikes an east Jackson neighborhood leaving a community speechless.

“I’m just stunned,” Zellier Price said.

Monday, Jackson police responded to reports of gunfire on Willa Drive and found a man in critical condition.

“All I heard were some gunshots. So when I came to the door I just saw people out,” Flossy Jarred said.

Less than a mile away police say they took several people into custody, including the gunman.

“This is normally a very, very quite neighborhood,” Shirley Rhea said.

Neighbors are now grappling to understand how this could happen so close to home.

“I said, ‘oh Lord, ain’t nothing ever happened over here like this so I said I better go in the house and stay in the house,”  Jarred said.

Jarred lives doors down from the shooting and said she could not believe her eyes

“I kind of peeped out the window and that’s when we saw all of the police cars,”  Jarred said.

“I just got home and I was sitting at my kitchen table with my family members and we heard four gunshots,”  Price said.

Price said she and her family have lived in the area more than 25 years.

“We all just looked at each other and said ‘that was gunshots?’ and the next thing we know the police were up the street,” Price said.

“It’s nerve-racking because kids walk up and down the straight all day every day,” Semeako Woodrick said.

The incident hits a personal note with others who say they know the victim.

“I knew his mother and their family and it was like chills just ran down me,” Rhea said.

Neighbors hope this is the first and last incident like this.

“Just take it somewhere else,” Rhea said.

“Please stay out of our neighborhood. This is a very nice neighborhood and we don’t need that kind of drama here,” Price said.

Hours after the shooting investigators were still combing the scene for evidence.

Police have not released the name of the victim or suspects or what might have led to the gun violence.

Neighbors say they hope Monday’s shooting will encourage more people to take part in their Neighborhood Watch.