In the early evening of Saturday, September 22, 2012, 30-year-old Joshua Mclean, a male, was fatally shot in a brazen act of violence that unfolded in a busy Nashville shopping center parking lot. The incident occurred just before 7:00 p.m. at the Nashville West Shopping Center located at 6814 Charlotte Pike. Mclean, a home-builder and partner at Kenner-McLean Development, had traveled to the location with his brother for a prearranged meeting to sell two handguns.
The arrangement had been made through an online advertisement.
Upon their arrival in the bustling commercial area, Mclean exited his vehicle and walked to the rear to retrieve the firearms and meet the prospective buyers. It was at this moment that the transaction turned deadly. The two men who had responded to the online ad brandished a weapon, not with the intent to purchase, but to rob Mclean of the handguns he was selling. During the ensuing confrontation, Mclean was shot. His brother, who had remained in their vehicle, heard the gunshots and rushed to his brother's side. The assailants, described as two Black men, fled the scene in a vehicle without successfully taking the handguns Mclean had intended to sell.
Emergency services were called to the scene, and Joshua Mclean was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later that evening. Despite the public nature of the location and the presence of his brother, the perpetrators managed to escape. The Nashville Police Department launched a homicide investigation, collecting evidence from the scene, including the firearms Mclean had brought to the sale. Surveillance footage from the area captured an image of the suspect's vehicle, which was released to the public in the hopes of generating leads.
Despite the efforts of law enforcement and public appeals for information, the case has grown cold over the years. No arrests have ever been made in connection with the murder of Joshua Mclean, and no suspects have been publicly identified beyond the initial general description. The case remains an open and unsolved homicide within the Nashville Police Department's cold case files, leaving a family to mourn a loss for which there has been no justice.
