Convicted murderer sought in shooting of woman and 3 teenage girls
Police in Nashville are hunting for a convicted murderer they say shot his girlfriend and her three teenage daughters at an apartment complex on Friday.
Earnest Woodley is suspected of shooting his girlfriend, 34-year-old Nicole Luke, and her 14-year-old twin daughters inside an apartment then fleeing outside to shoot her other 15-year-old daughter as she sat in an SUV.
All four victims were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Police told the Tennessean newspaper that Luke and two of her daughters are in critical condition. One of the twins, who was reportedly shot in the leg, was in stable condition Friday afternoon.
According to the Associated Press, "Woodley and Nicole Luke were reportedly moving to Memphis when they stopped by Woodley's cousin's apartment…to say goodbye."
Woodley, Luke and twins Deona and Keona Luke went inside while Luke's 15-year-old daughter, Kierra Smith, stayed inside the SUV, reports AP.
Police say that Woodley and Luke argued inside the apartment and Luke and her two daughters were shot.
Woodley then went outside and fired into the SUV, hitting Smith in the leg, police said.
Luke and Woodley's 3-year-old daughter was inside the apartment during the shooting and was not harmed.
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Steve Howell, who was visiting his mother at the complex, told the Tennessean that he was on her front porch when he heard five gunshots.
"First there were three shots, then silence, then two more," he told the newspaper. "It was loud, like a large-caliber gun, a .45 maybe."
The 39-year-old Woodley, who also goes by the name Earnest Moore, was convicted of second-degree murder in Shelby County in April of 1991, according to Nashville Police.
Woodley's criminal record also includes an aggravated assault conviction and drug charges.
Woodley fled the scene of the shooting barefoot and is still at large. Nashville police were using helicopters and search dogs to track him down on Friday afternoon.