MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – WGNS has more news on the judicial progress of a criminal case that began two years ago at a bar on Halls Hill Pike, about a mile past MTSU.

Looking back at the incident that sparked the case, it reportedly involved a bar patron who had been banned from the local establishment. After being told not to return, he allegedly grew upset and came back to the bar armed with a handgun. Once inside, he is accused of pointing the semi-automatic pistol at the bar owner and pulling the trigger. Rutherford County District Attorney General Jennings Jones explains what happened next... At the time of the crime, Eric Buchanan was 40-years-old. 

After his initial arrest and indictment that followed in 2023, a trial was held late last year (2024). At the end of that trial, a jury found Eric J. Buchanan guilty of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Although the jury returned its verdict in 2024, Buchanan was not sentenced until 2025. This past Friday on WGNS, the district attorney provided the outcome of Buchanan’s sentencing... The DA also noted, “Mr. Buchanan has at least eight prior felony convictions, several for violent felonies.”

Parole appears to be unavailable for Buchanan until at least the year 2085. At that point, he will be 103 years old. In the meantime, he will serve his sentence at the Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City, Tennessee, a small community of about 2,400 residents located near the Virginia and North Carolina state lines. The prison has an operating capacity of 1,395 inmates.