>>Dyersburg police talks about shooting at 2-year-old’s birthday party that left 1 dead, 7 injured 
 
 With a birthday cake nearby, seven people were shot in Dyersburg on Thursday night. Friends and family identified the mother as 21-year-old Shanice Amerson. Police said there have been other incidents here, but not shootings. The shooting happened at a birthday party for a 2-year-old on Longfellow Avenue. While the crime is currently under investigation by DPD, officers stated that roughly one and half hours before the shooting occurred, calls were received by the department reporting 1-2 cars that had driven through the area carrying individuals who were reportedly flashing guns. Officers later made traffic stops in the area, but did not find any guns. Stephanie Childress, a neighbor, was the first to arrive on the scene after she heard gunshots. "Only thing I knew to do, was to try and run down here and help as much as I could," Childress said. The baby was sitting in the high chair and there was, I know, two on the porch that were shot. Childress said she heard three shots at first, called 911, and then heard three to four more shots as she headed toward the house. She said this area isn't used to tragic events like this. Childress lives four houses down from the scene, and told FOX13, "Innocent kids got hurt for no reason and I am scared to death that they haven't caught anyone."
– The group had gathered on the porch of a home in Dyersburg, Tenn., on Thursday to celebrate a 2-year-old's birthday with balloons, a birthday cake, and a highchair. Then shots rang out. Authorities say up to three assailants on foot opened fire on the party around 6:20pm Thursday, killing the mother of the 2-year-old and wounding six others, reports the State Gazette. Shanice Amerson, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene while two victims, including a 6-year-old boy, were airlifted to hospitals in Memphis, per ABC News and WMC. Others were being treated at a hospital in Dyersburg. Neighbors suggest the shooting may have been gang-related, per Fox 13. Police say they have identified one person of interest, but no arrests have been made. "Innocent kids got hurt for no reason and I am scared to death that they haven't caught anyone," says a neighbor who assisted the victims at the scene, where a large poster of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck was hung. Police say they received a call about people flashing guns from one or two vehicles in the area in the hours before the shooting, but no guns were found during traffic stops.