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Description
April 19, 2018
Press conference with Asheville Police Chief Hooper on Shooting at 73 Hansel Avenue.
A
Good
morning,
the
purpose
of
having
you
here
today
is
to
try
to
provide
as
much
detail
as
possible
about
the
tragic
incident
that
occurred
last
night.
So
I'm
just
going
to
go
through
the
facts
and
then
we'll
try
to
take
some
questions
and
answer
what
we
can.
Can
everyone
hear?
Okay,
are
you
doing
good
on
that
all
right,
10:31
p.m.
A
last
night,
the
Asheville
Police
Department
received
a
911
call
from
a
juvenile
at
73
handsful
Avenue,
who
reported
that
Maurice
Gardner
had
shot
and
killed
his
mother
Erika
Smith
and
had
also
shot
other
family
members
who
were
brothers
and
sisters
of
his
and
that
he
also
was
injured.
He
we
were
able
to
keep
him
on
the
line.
The
call
taker
was
able
to
get
additional
information,
as
we
were
responding
about
mr.
garner
and
and
the
vehicle
that
he
was
driving.
A
A
A
One
was
a
13
year
old
female
who
also
succumbed
to
her
wounds
on
her
way
to
the
hospital.
The
three
additional
children
were
transported,
one
a
12
year
old,
sustained
a
gunshot
wound
to
the
leg.
He
is
currently
listed
in
stable
condition
and
two
additional
victims.
Ten-Year-Old
and
eight-year-old
sustained
graze
wounds
and
are
were
treated
for
their
injuries
and
are
currently
receiving
services
through
the
mountain,
Child
Advocacy
Center.
A
A
A
As
we
continue
to
investigate
this,
what
we
have
learned
is
that
a
verbal
altercation
occurred
between
Miss
Smith
and
mr.
Gardner
at
her
place
of
employment
at
Mission
Hospital
earlier
in
the
evening,
and
that,
following
that,
altercation
they
traveled
to
the
home,
and
it
was
some
time
later
that
the
shooting
occurred.
A
A
We
did
receive
one
previous
call
at
this
residence
on
April
5th,
where
Miss
Smith
reported
that
mr.
garner
took
a
car.
However,
that
car
was
registered
to
him
and
there
was
no
crime
that
was
noted
and
also
no
report
of
violence
or
any
sort
of
domestic
dispute.
At
the
time,
the
surviving
children
are
continuing
to
receive
services
through
the
mountain
Child
Advocacy
Center,
both
Asheville
City
Schools
and
Buncombe
County
Schools
were
notified
as
the
children
did
attend
those
schools
and
they
are
providing
services
based
on
their
protocols
to
the
fellow
students.
B
B
B
A
B
A
Again
something
we're
trying
to
deal
to
come
to
on
our
investigation
to
run
down
the
timeline
of
the
time
between
the
verbal
altercation
when
they
got
to
the
house
and
how
long
they
were
at
the
house
before
the
shooting
occurred.
We
don't
have
that
right
now,
I,
don't
know
I
mean
it's.
You
know
this
is
right
now
we're
trying
to
leave
it
to
some
of
our
experts
who
deal
with
children
in
trauma
to
work
with
them
and
so
we're
hoping
that
that
helps
them
get
through
it.