Name of woman fatally shot at Antioch church released

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Police have released the name of a woman who was fatally shot by a suspect at a church in Tennessee.

Metropolitan Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron says 39-year-old Melanie Smith of Smyrna, Tennessee, was shot Sunday outside the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in the Nashville neighborhood of Antioch.

Aaron says Smith was shot as she left the church, and the suspect then proceeded inside.

Aaron says the suspect, 25-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson, had two pistols when he entered the church.

Gunman in church shooting is Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25. He has been released from hospital and will be charged with murder and att murder. pic.twitter.com/VuCUgJ3JIQ

— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) September 24, 2017

He says Samson came to the United States from Sudan in 1996 and was a legal U.S. resident “but not necessarily a U.S. citizen.”

Samson had a Tennessee driver’s license.

Aaron says six others were shot, and the church’s usher, 22-year-old Robert Engle, was pistol-whipped by Samson, who then apparently shot himself.

Aaron says church members indicated Samson attended the church one to two years ago.

Police say Samson will be charged with murder and attempted murder.