Police believe murder victim, husband weren’t intended targets

Published 9:41 pm Wednesday, March 18, 2015

By Blake Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

Investigators with the Selma Police Department believe the gunshots that killed a woman and injured a man Saturday night outside of a lounge on Marie Foster Street were intended for someone else.

“We don’t believe there is a connection with the victims and the shooters, and we don’t believe that it was a random shooting either,” Lt. Curtis Muhannad said. “We believe that it is a possibility that there was someone outside of that lounge that the shooters were targeting, but we don’t know that for sure yet.”

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Tiffine Berry, 37, died Tuesday night from injuries sustained during the shooting. Berry was wounded in the neck and upper torso.

“The family is taking it pretty hard due to the fact that their family members that were shot had attended a funeral of some sort,” Muhannad said.

Berry’s husband, Tra Berry, 41, was injured and is still in the hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound to his left leg.

“The last report we got was from the family saying that he had more complications with swelling in his leg from the gunshot wound,” Muhannad said.

Investigators believe an assault rifle was used in the shooting.

“Right now we’re not sure the type of weapon, but we believe that it may be some sort of assault rifle because of the property damage,” Muhannad said.

According to Muhannad, the police department is still trying to piece together what happened outside of the lounge Saturday night.

“The couple was standing outside, and no one knows where the gunshots came from,” Muhannad said.

“[People] just heard gunshots and started ducking and hitting the ground. Nobody can tell us what direction the gunshots came from or whether it was a drive-by or if [the shooters] just walked up.”

According to Muhannad, there are no suspects at this time, and the shooting is still under investigation.

Anyone with information concerning the shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (334) 874-2588 or 1-866-442-7463. Your phone call will be confidential.