Murfreesboro, TN - Murfreesboro Police are continuing their intensive investigation following a deadly shooting early Friday (8/1/2025) morning at the 7-Eleven Exxon service station on East Northfield Boulevard at Lascassas Pike. The incident happened around 5:00 o'clock when three armed suspects attempted to steal an ATM using a pickup truck and a steel cable in a dramatic break-in attempt.

According to police reports, the suspects smashed through the store’s large window with a sledgehammer and tried to drag the ATM out using a cable attached to the truck. What they didn’t expect was an armed customer inside the store. Fearing for his life—and alongside a terrified store clerk—the customer fired his revolver, striking one of the intruders. Paramedics arrived shortly afterward and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. The other two suspects fled in the pickup, peeling away with the steel cable trailing behind them.

The truck was later found abandoned just blocks away near Chariot Pointe Apartments. Officers later recovered a stolen SUV believed to have also been connected to the crime. Analysts at Murfreesboro Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center are now examining surveillance footage from nearby businesses, homes, and public safety cameras to track the remaining suspects. License plate readers and residential doorbell cameras are also aiding in the search.

Local residents reported waking up to the sound of gunfire and sirens, a growing concern in the area. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office responded with K9 units and drone support to help locate the fleeing individuals. While detectives are calling it an isolated incident, it’s added urgency to community conversations concerned with public safety.

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers at 615-893-STOP (7867). Tips remain anonymous, and if the information leads to an arrest and conviction, tipsters could earn a reward of up to $1,000.

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