A woman was arrested and charged in the attempted murder of a homeless man in Nashville.
Police say, Katie Quackenbush, 26, allegedly shot 54-year-old Gerald Melton on Aug. 26 near Music Row.
Melton was critically wounded and is being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
According to police, Melton was trying to sleep on the sidewalk at 3 a.m. at 19th Avenue South and Chet Atkins place.
He was reportedly disturbed by exhaust fumes and loud music coming from a Porsche SUV.
Melton said he asked the driver, Quackenbush, to move the vehicle. Police say the two began yelling at each other, and Quackenbush eventually got out of the car and shot Melton twice before running up the street with another woman.
Her father, Jesse Quackenbush, released the following statement, saying his daughter fired two warning shots not meaning to hit Melton.
The two women were actually acting in self defense. The man was always on his feet and not asleep as someone apparently has alleged and had accosted a group of very young women and nearly became physical with one. He then approached the white Porsche (not Lexis) with two female occupants and started verbally accosting them threatening them because their music was too loud for him to sleep... The driver fired a round as a warning to scare him away as he came at her. He kept coming and she fired a second round, again intended to scare him away. They quickly got back into the white vehicle and left, not knowing that the man was hit by the warning shots. Both girls contacted the police and DA shortly after the incident and have always agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation.
Katie Quackenbush has since posted a $25,000 bond and was released from jail.
