The Justice Department and the FBI have opened a federal civil rights investigation into Sunday’s shooting at a church outside Nashville, Tennessee.
“The Memphis FBI Field Office’s Nashville Resident Agency, the Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee have opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee. The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence. As this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time,” a DOJ spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Police in the Nashville metropolitan region arrested Emanuel Kidega Samson of La Vergne, Tenn., shortly after the incident 11:15 a.m. CST Sunday.
Samson was charged with felony homicide and is being held without bond for fatally shooting one person and wounding seven others at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, located in a neighborhood in Davidson County within Nashville.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was asked by local police to run an “urgent trace” on a firearm — one of two the suspect is believed to have brought to the scene, according to CNN Monday.
The test will help agents determine where the weapon was purchased, who purchased it, and whether it was legally purchased.
Samson, 25, is a Sudanese-born man with legal U.S. residency. He had worked as a security guard and had a history of police run-ins.
Samson, who will appear in court Wednesday, quit his security job by sending an email to his employer an hour before he allegedly attacked congregation members, said police spokesman Don Aaron.
On June 27, Murfreesboro Police were called to the home of Samson’s father after he reported his son being suicidal. Police showed up at Samson’s workplace, G4S, and said they were assured he was not thinking about taking his life.
Prior to the June incident, police also responded to two domestic violence incidents at Samson’s residence.
Members of the church also confirmed Samson had attended one to two years ago and recalled him as a friendly attendee.
