NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – Gunfire erupted on the streets of downtown Nashville around 1:00 a.m. Sunday following an argument between two men over a dog that was with one of them.
The man with the dog allegedly pulled a gun at some point during the confrontation. “The second suspect then left but returned a few minutes later armed with a gun and accompanied by several other men,” police said.
A gunfight erupted, leaving eight people injured when the smoke cleared. Amazingly, none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. Police have not yet made public any other details of the incident, including the identities of the men, how many guns or gunmen were involved public, or the possible charges that the individuals that were involved in the early morning melee may face.
This is yet another example of firearms being used to settle a minor dispute. Not only did the two men originally involved escalate the encounter to a whole different level, one of them was apparently able to persuade several of his friends to join in the insanity of a new day. This incident had the potential to become a mass murder scene…over a dog.
In what has become one of the country’s most famous dog dispute related homicides, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer of the children’s comedy series Our Gang fame was fatally shot in 1959 when he went to collect a $50 reward fee for a lost dog. Ruled as a self-defense shooting at the time, a child witness who came forward 42 years later describe the incident as “more like murder”.
