The Town of Smyrna Police Department shared an October 4 update.
The department shared the update in a Facebook post.
A Park With a Complicated Recent History on Guns
Smyrna's Town Council was considering an amendment to municipal code that would allow firearms in public town parks, with a public hearing scheduled, Hoodline reported in July. The proposed change would bring Smyrna's code in line with Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1314, which broadly preempts local firearm rules but still leaves cities the authority to regulate reckless discharge within their limits, according to Justia Law. Under the cited state law, carrying a handgun in a Smyrna park is broadly protected for permit holders, but firing one recklessly within town limits remains against the law.
Hilltop Park sits at 565 Mason Tucker Drive on a 16-acre site that opened in 2003, built from a 7-acre land donation by the Coleman family and a later purchase from the Alford family, per the Town of Smyrna Parks & Recreation Department. The park is also home to the Rosenwald Community Center, a 2005 replica honoring the historic Smyrna Rosenwald School, which served as Rutherford County's largest African American school from 1927 until 1960 through grants connected to Sears executive Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, according to Rutherford County Tennessee History.
Not the Park's First Safety Scare
This isn't the first time Hilltop Park has drawn safety concerns. In May 2021, WKRN reported that a teenager was physically assaulted by a group of youths and adults at the park while playing with her brother, an incident that prompted community warnings about visitor safety at the time.
It's also not the first firearm investigation Smyrna police have handled involving the town's youth in recent memory. In December 2025, officers responded to a fatal shooting outside a local event center that left one minor dead and another injured, a case that ended with the detention of a juvenile found holding a stolen firearm near the venue shortly after gunfire erupted, Hoodline previously reported.
Smyrna's Criminal Investigations Division
Smyrna Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division fields 12 detectives across general and narcotics units to review and investigate criminal reports filed in town.
Broader crime data includes a violent-crime map for Rutherford County, according to Map the Block.
Residents looking to track local incidents can do so through the department's online Police-to-Citizen portal, which connects directly to the department's records software. For now, the central questions in the Hilltop Park case — who fired the weapon, what kind of gun was used, and exactly where the shots landed — remain open as detectives continue working the investigation.
