UPDATE: A customer shot and killed a suspected thief during an attempted ATM theft early Friday morning at the 7-Eleven Exxon on East Northfield Boulevard, according to Murfreesboro police.
Detectives with the Criminal Investigations Division reported that three individuals arrived at the store around 5 a.m. in a stolen pickup truck. They allegedly smashed a window with a sledgehammer and used a guy wire to dislodge the ATM from its base. While the attempted theft was in progress, a customer inside the store opened fire, striking one of the suspects.
Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services pronounced the unidentified suspect dead at the scene. Police interviewed the customer who fired the shot and released him pending further investigation.
Authorities believe the two remaining suspects drove the stolen truck to the Chariot Pointe Apartments, where they abandoned it with the guy wire still attached. Officers also recovered a stolen SUV believed to be connected to the attempted theft.
Analysts with the Real Time Crime Center are reviewing footage from public safety and license plate reader cameras to identify the suspects’ getaway vehicle.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the search by deploying a K9 unit and a drone operator.
Police described the incident as isolated. The investigation is ongoing.
Authorities say unknown individuals broke one of the store’s front windows in what appears to have been an attempt to steal the ATM inside. It remains unclear how the suspects intended to remove the machine from the store, as investigators have not released full details.
During the crime, at least one person was shot and killed. Preliminary reports suggest that an armed bystander fired the fatal shot, striking one of the suspects.
The fatal shooting and the attempted theft are both under active investigation by the Murfreesboro Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
The initial call to police was believed to be for an armed robbery. Upon arrival, officers secured the scene at the intersection of East Northfield Boulevard and Highway 96, near MTSU, and began piecing together what occurred. That investigation remains ongoing.
PREVIOUS - Murfreesboro, TN - Early Friday morning around 5:00 a.m., an attempted theft of an ATM turned deadly at the 7-Eleven-Exxon located on E. Northfield Blvd. in Murfreesboro. Thieves broke through a window and tried to remove the machine when a fatal shooting occurred. Detectives with the Murfreesboro Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division are currently handling the investigation. MPD officers responded to an armed robbery call and arrived on scene at 1849 E. Northfield Blvd., where the store has since been closed to customers.
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