Sumner County, Tenn. — TBI Special Agents continue to investigate the homicides of six individuals in Sumner County, along with the officer-involved shooting of the suspect.
A 12-year-old girl is among the victims and an elderly woman is fighting for her life.
TBI Agents began investigating the deaths on Saturday evening, shortly after authorities, responding to a 911 call from a family member, found the bodies of four individuals in a home in the 1100 block of Charles Brown Road. They also found a fifth, injured victim at the scene, and medics transported the individual to the hospital. Authorities soon learned of a second scene, a short distance away in the 1500 block of Luby Brown Road, where they discovered another deceased individual. TBI Forensic Scientists processing the scene on Charles Brown Road located the body of another homicide victim at that location early Sunday morning. The bodies will be sent to Nashville for autopsies.
During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Michael Cummins, 25, as the suspect in the crimes.
Some of the victims were family members of the suspect, according to family statements on social media. Although, the TBI has yet to identify the victims or a motive.
According to WSMV, Cummins’ parents, two family friends, and a neighbor are among the victims. A seventh victim is reportedly his grandmother, whom Cummins ‘nearly beat to death,’ a family member told the news outlet.
During the search by law enforcement agencies from across the region, TBI employed its aircraft and located, in a creek bed approximately one mile from the first scene, indications of an individual. More than a dozen law enforcement officers from the county’s joint SWAT Team went to that location, where they encountered Cummins. The situation escalated, for reasons under investigation, and resulted in at least one officer firing his service weapon, striking Cummins. Medics transported him to a local hospital for treatment with injuries that were not immediately believed to be life-threatening. No law enforcement officers sustained injuries in the arrest effort.
Cummins has a very long rap sheet, including aggravated assault, domestic assault, arson and resisting arrest.
The investigation continues.
