NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Police records show that a man charged with homicide in shooting at a Tennessee church made a suicidal statement to his father in June and had a volatile relationship with a woman that twice involved law enforcement intervention this year.
Emanuel Kidega Samson is charged with the fatal shooting of one woman and is expected to face several more charges following the rampage at the Burnett Chapel Church of Christ in that left six others wounded.
Police records in Murfreesboro show that Samson’s father reported that his son had texted him on June 27 to say “Your phone is off, I have a gun to my head.”
Officers in January responded to two domestic disturbances between Emanuel Samson and a woman he had been in a relationship with.
Samson was charged with shooting seven people, killing one, in a Tennessee church will have his first court appearance on Wednesday.
WMSV-TV cited court records in reporting the court date for 25-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson, who is charged with one count of murder. Police say additional charges are expected. According to an arrest affidavit, Samson waived his rights and told police that he arrived at the church armed and fired upon the building on Sunday.
Witnesses and police described a chaotic scene as the masked attacker shot people inside and outside the church before he was subdued.
A 22-year-old usher named Robert Engle is being hailed as a hero for tackling the gunman and holding him at gunpoint until police arrived.
Police have not determined a motive for the shooting.
