At about 3 p.m. local time on November 9, a 74-year-old Chinese elderly man was shot dead while retrieving a trash can in front of his home in Nashville, Tennessee. Police said there were 4 shootings in the city on the day the old man was killed.
When the No. 37 of the Serious Crimes Group (WeChat ID: zhonganzu37) contacted the old man's son Wang Yun, it was more than 9 p.m. local time on the 14th. These days, he has been preparing for the funeral of his father Wang Ruxin, talking about his father, choking up several times.
Wang Yun introduced that his father once served in the Jinzhong Municipal Education Bureau in Shanxi, and had previously retired. In September, my parents came to the United States to visit them. This is my father's 7th visit to the United States, and since 2004, he has been in the United States every other year for about half a year.
Wang Yun, who arrived in the United States in 2000 and is currently working at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, is a computer engineer who just moved to Klein Avenue in June. He could never accept that it was probably a aimless shooting. Police said they had caught two black juvenile suspects, a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. Among them, the 15-year-old boy has been arrested many times for robbery and so on.
Wang Yun did not understand, why would he poison an amiable person? In an interview with local media, he said, "Seeing the shootings that happened in Las Vegas, and the shooting in Orlando, you feel far away from you, but it's not the case." ”
Here's what he said.
3 people before going out and 2 people after coming back
On the morning of the shooting, when I was out of the house after eating, my dad said, "It's a little cold today, get dressed a little more." "He helped me take my clothes off.
It was the last time I saw him.
After I went out, my parents were at home alone. The garbage can at home was originally placed inside the yard fence, but generally on Thursday, we would put the garbage can outside the fence, and then take it back after the garbage collection was emptied.
It was Thursday and the trash cans were placed outside the fence. Around 3 p.m., my dad had just gone out to get the trash can, and within 2 minutes, my mom heard two "popping" sounds and a scream. But she wasn't sure it was a gunshot, because she had never heard a gunshot so close.
▲The garbage collection place in front of Wang Yun's house. Courtesy of respondents
She felt bad, got up from the couch, looked into the yard through the shutters of the house, and saw no one. She had broken her feet and walked out the door on crutches, about 2 minutes later than she had heard the gunshots.
By then, the shooter had already run away. She saw my dad lying in the grove in front of her, about 10 meters from home.
My dad was in a coma. My mom didn't see the muzzle at first, and I don't know if he was actually shot. She called me and I didn't get it.
I happened to be very busy that week, going to work at five o'clock in the morning, returning at six o'clock in the evening, and working 2 days of night shifts. I was doing physical therapy at school (Vanderbilt University) because of a back injury, and my mom made three phone calls, but I didn't hear my phone in my coat. When I found out, I felt very strange, there must have been an accident, how to make so many calls, call back has not been answered.
My mom texted a friend on her phone for help, and the friend called the police. Earlier, a black man helped my dad do artificial respiration, only to see a gunshot hole in his stomach. My dad didn't breathe when he went to the hospital. Later, when I looked at the autopsy report, I learned that there was another muzzle of gun.
On that day, we wanted to cry without tears. I told my mother, why can't I cry? Neither of us could sleep, and I chatted with her in bed, crying and chatting, reminiscing about my dad. We couldn't believe it, there were 3 people in front of the house in the morning and 2 people when we came back.
A few days before the accident, there were also shootings nearby
I kept thinking that it was fortunate that my mother did not go out in time, otherwise the people might attack her.
When I hadn't moved before, we would wake up at 7 o'clock on Saturday morning and I would take my dad to a coach's house for an hour of exercise. He didn't speak English, was always kind, quiet, smiling, and everyone had a very good impression of him.
Don't look at the 74-year-old, who often goes out to bike to buy things, and rides around the house every day when he has nothing to do. He didn't speak English, but he could tell the difference between how much that thing was and how much this thing was in a pack. He especially loved potatoes and knew when it was cheap, in order to save money. This time from China, I also carried a bunch of tools to repair my own tires.
I used to live near the school and life was very safe. Although I also heard about the shooting, I felt far away from myself. In the city of Nashville, it's not as bad as a district, and every day is a shooting case or something. Some people have not lived for many years without such a thing happening, and it happened not long after their parents arrived.
Our home is about 3 miles from Vanderbilt University and about 13 minutes by bus. A few days before my dad's accident, there were also 2 shootings around the school. Recently, we have found that the security in the United States is getting worse and worse, and places that were once safe will now have shootings.
An American friend told me that across the street, security is a world apart. It's close to the slums, and there are a lot of crimes. Near our house, there was a small corner some time ago where people sold drugs every day. In terms of security, I may not have been so thoughtful before I came, but now my father has put his life in it.
Suspected juvenile aimless shooting
When the police told me about the follow-up to the case, they said that it was probably 4 people who committed the crime, and two of them were basically confirmed, but because there was no direct video evidence, there was no way to charge them.
The two men, a 15-year-old black girl and a 14-year-old black boy, attended a nearby school but neither went to school. The police officer said that the 15-year-old boys had basically been arrested over the years, but because they were minors, they were released when they were caught.
Yesterday, after a few days of absence from school, the little boy was caught in an area on the east side for grabbing someone else's things. The police asked him about my dad, and he said, "I'm going to find a lawyer." He said nothing, and we don't have any evidence to move the case forward for the time being. The police said to see if there was any other evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, that could charge him.
▲ Wang Yun's residence in Nashville City, there is a fence at the door, and Wang Ruxin was shot near the bushes northeast in front of the fence.
This was most likely a aimless shooting. From the perspective of our family, it was incredible. I used to think about how this kind of thing could happen to my own family, but I felt that this district (security) was slowly getting better, and I didn't expect things to become like this.
My father himself was a very kind man, and if he asked him for money or something, he would definitely give it and would not struggle with you. Why would anyone poison such an amiable person? Everyone can't figure it out. I think the reason why this matter has attracted everyone's attention is because it makes no sense.
I was really shocked when the police told me today about how this juvenile court works. I didn't know that children would do things every week, but they would still release them. The government's duty has not been done, you can repeat it again and again, you can't repeat it again and again, you can't rob people every week and be put on the street to hurt others, this is the government's dereliction of duty, this is to increase hidden dangers to society.
Beijing News reporter Wu Jing Zhou Xiaoqi
Edited by Chen Wei and Li Xiaojin
Proofread by Lu Aiying