Selma man charged with murder after shooting spree across Dallas County

A Selma man is behind bars after going on a rampage that left one person dead and others injured, according to police.

Lorenzo Edwards is being held without bond charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. More charges are pending, police said.

According to Selma Police Chief Kenta Fulford, around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, officers responded to a “shots fired” call in the 2800 block of Summerfield Road. 

Fulford reported the officers found a female victim with a gunshot wound to the face, and her 14- year-old son had been shot in the head. Fulford said both were taken to the hospital, but the son had to be airlifted to an out-of-town hospital for treatment.

Shortly after the shootings within the Selma city limits, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department received a call that shots were fired in the 900 block of Highway 219.

Sheriff Mike Granthum said that about the same time the county received their call, Chief Deputy John Hatfield “who lives a block from there, got a personal phone call about shots being fired.” Granthum said Hatfield was the first officer on the scene. 

When Hatfield arrived on the scene “he noticed that there was an elderly white female in the yard, laying on the ground, bleeding from the head. At the same time, he noticed a Black male subject, later identified as Lorenzo Edwards, coming toward him with a gun in each hand.

Granthum said Hatfield had Edwards at gunpoint, and he ordered Edwards to drop his guns several times, which he finally did. However, Edwards continued to walk toward Hatfield, but he eventually dropped to the ground as Hatfield ordered. 

After getting the situation under control, Hatfield checked the lady lying in the yard, but found she was dead. At this point, Granthum said Hatfield learned there were two more victims at the scene.

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One of the other victims was shot. Granthum said he was grazed in the head, but he was also run over by Edwards. “He was taken to the ER and is in stable condition.” 

“We didn’t know if she was shot or not,” Granthum said. “Come to find out, his gun jammed, so he took a pistol and started bashing in the back of her head.” She also was taken to the ER and is in stable condition, according to Granthum.

It was also discovered that in addition to shooting the elderly woman who died, Edwards also apparently “took an aluminum engine block out of his car and assaulted her with it,” according to Granthum.

Granthum added that the elderly woman “had nothing to do with any of this. He (Edwards) just noticed her in the yard, and she was on the telephone. He thought she was dialing 911, so he goes over to try and kill her, and he did.”

Granthum said Edwards confessed during his interrogation. “His thing was he was tired of people picking on him,” Granthum said. “He had had enough.”

He also reported Edwards said he felt “his wife was against him, his son was against him, the whole world was against him, and he just couldn’t take anymore.”

Granthum also said that when deputies took Edwards into custody, they discovered he had loaded his guns and was about to continue his rampage. Once in custody, Granthum said Edwards “looked at me and said, ‘I’m glad y’all caught me, because I didn’t want to do anymore destruction.’”

Fulford said after the county has completed their process, they will be charging Edwards with two counts of attempted murder for the assaults in their jurisdiction.