Gene Atherton Jr., 58, who was critically injured in a February 16th shooting at 332 E Old Hickory Boulevard has died. Atherton had been hired as a handyman at the business and is believed to have been an unintended target of the shooting.
Officers responded at 2:45 p.m. and located evidence of a crime scene at the business. While on the scene, officers received a call for service around the corner on Gallatin Pike S where they located Atherton walking on the sidewalk, bleeding profusely from a head wound. He was transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center. He died yesterday.
A short time later, another related call came from Skyline Medical Center where a 32-year-old man had walked in with a gunshot wound to his leg. He reported that he was working at the business when shots were fired and he ran. When he noticed he was shot, he reportedly flagged down a motorist who drove him to the hospital.
According to witnesses on the scene, a gray van/truck pulled up behind the business and parked on Maple Street. Two men wearing ski masks reportedly got out of the vehicle and walked through a yard to the back of the business where they shot over a fence toward the victims.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about Atherton’s murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.