NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A quiet night in one of Nashville’s sleepier neighborhoods took a terrifying turn when three masked men opened fire on a car. A man was shot in the back and lived to tell about it.

“We were just sitting there having a good time with some friends,” Jonathan Defore remembered clearly. “A black SUV pulls up, we didn’t know who it was, we just thought it was somebody else coming to hang out with us, and they turned around and then they sat in the middle of the parking lot. We were [about to] come up to them and question them, and as soon as I went and reached for the door, gunshots rang out and then I realized I was hit in the back.”

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It was a peaceful night at a Bellevue park where Defore and some of his friends were hanging out. In an interview with News 2, he explained it’s something he and his friends did often, but that particular night was something he never saw coming.

“Terrifying, it really is because you don’t know where them bullets are going to go and you don’t know if you’re going to die or not. It’s just, once you’re there and you’re through it and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m still here.’ It’s just terrifying,” he said.

Defore explained mentally he is still struggling with what happened as he bears the scars of that night on his back.

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“They just hit me one time straight through, so I got lucky,” said Defore. “I’m glad to be here and glad to be alive.”

According to Metro Nashville dispatch, the shooting was called in shortly after 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24 from the 600 block of McPherson Drive.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said the victim reported he was sitting in his parked vehicle with his friends at the park along McPherson Drive (MNPD) when a dark SUV — occupied by three males wearing ski masks — pulled up next to him and opened fire on the vehicle.

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“As soon as I reached for the door, ‘bam bam bam bam,’ and then they took off,” he remembered. “It’s just a miracle because you don’t get shot every day and live to tell the tale.”

The MNPD is investigating and encourages anyone with information to call them at 615-862-8600. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME.

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