‘It was just chaos everywhere’: Survivor of deadly Jefferson Street shooting reflects on the tragedy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A survivor of the shooting near Tennessee State University (TSU) said there was chaos everywhere when she and nine others were hit by gunfire Saturday.

The Clarksville woman, Shervon King, said she was catching up with people she hadn’t seen in a while when she heard popping sounds on Jefferson Street.

“I just really can’t express how grateful I am that I’m still here,” King told News 2. “I was sitting in that spot and I just kind of heard the commotion and I looked around and thought… I don’t know what I thought was happening until I heard the gunshots.”

Shervon said she tried to duck and run when she tripped on something and fell to the ground.  She held onto a rolling tray to use as a shield. Once the gunshots stopped, she said her family told her not to get up because one of the bullets hit her in the leg.

“It didn’t hurt!” Shervon recalled. “I don’t know. Maybe it was the adrenaline — it just stung a little bit.”

Shervon said she didn’t have any broken bones, but surgeons had to remove bullet fragments from her knee.

“It was just chaos everywhere. People [were] running everywhere. It was something unbelievable, something that I’ve never experienced,” King added. “I’m just grateful to God that all I got was a gunshot and I’m still here to talk to you about it.”

Not only has King dealt with the pain of her injury, but she’s also mourned the loss of her relative, Vonquae Johnson, who died in the shooting.

“God allowed this to happen for whatever reason,” King said. “And maybe not now, but at some point we’ll know exactly why.”

Amidst tragedy, King still maintained her jovial spirit, remembering the moment that firefighters had to cut her pants to tend to her gunshot wound.

“I told the firefighter ‘I just bought these pants!’ He said ‘I’m sure you’d rather lose your pants than your life,’ and I was like ‘Yeah!’” she recalled.

Shervon said that she received an outpouring of support from friends and family. She was discharged from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and planned to stay at her mom’s house in Nashville as she recovers.

On Tuesday, Metro police chief John Drake gave a press conference with an update on the arrest of the suspects. Drake referenced one of the suspect’s arrest history, saying that probation should have restrictions.

“We come up on the weekend and we have a celebration and we have national celebrities in and people are excited about being in Nashville, and then we have people that’s not even connected to an incident, not even connected to what was going on, create this havoc,” Drake said.

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