STAFF REPORTS | Courtesy of The Herald Chronicle

WINCHESTER, Tenn. — A 61-year-old Springfield man has died after being struck by a suspected stray bullet while walking through Twin Creeks Village on the evening of July 4, and his organs are being donated to those in need.

Police reports identified the man as John Cobb, who was walking on Twin Creeks Marina Drive, near River Watch Way, at 9:20 p.m. on July 4 when he had an apparent medical emergency and had fallen.

While receiving medical treatment, it was discovered that Mr. Cobb may have been struck by a bullet, reports said.

Winchester Police Chief Ritchie Lewis said authorities do not know whether the projectile had been fired from a regular firearm or an air rifle. He added that police do not suspect foul play, and the projectile could have been fired in the air and then fallen from the sky, striking Mr. Cobb.

“At this time, we don’t know anything else,” Lewis said, adding that the bullet had entered the back top of Mr. Cobb’s head. “We won’t know anything else, until we receive the bullet from the medical examiner’s office.”

A post on the Winchester Police Department’s Facebook page says: “Given the witness testimony and preliminary findings, it’s believed that the bullet may have been fired recklessly into the air and struck Mr. Cobb during its downward descent.”

Mr. Cobb remained on life support before dying from his injuries this week.

His wife, Michelle Cobb, released a statement, thanking concerned citizens for their thoughts and prayers while recounting what happened that day.

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Remained on life support so he could donate organs

Mrs. Cobb said that she and her husband were celebrating the Fourth of July at Tim Ford Lake with family at Twin Creeks Marina. She added that a group of eight was walking along the road back to a gated area where they had rented a house when Mr. Cobb fell to the ground.

“We tried to get a response, and I turned him over,” Mrs. Cobb said. “Then I was able to administer CPR until the ambulance arrived. John was life-flighted to Vanderbilt Hospital where he has been on life support since.”

She said she knew Mr. Cobb was “instantly taken to heaven” as soon as he was hit “because there was never a response from him.”

Mrs. Cobb went on to say: “However, the fleshly yet faith-filled part of me wanted to believe that he was going to come back to me in the hospital. I did see movement three different times, and hope was stirred in my heart.

“However, it was explained to me that the movements were involuntary and something that commonly happens.”

Mrs. Cobb then shared that she and her husband had always been radical, faith-believing people because they had experienced many miracles during their 28-year marriage.

She explained that he survived at a time when a tire-repair machine had blown up because he had turned his head at the moment of the explosion and only injured a finger.

Mrs. Cobb said she also has been personally lucky when being in harm’s way.

 “I was hit with a transfer truck and dragged 762 feet, yet did not even break a fingernail,” she said. “I’ve been through breast cancer twice, and we had our miracle baby, Ashlynn, when I wasn’t even supposed to be able to get pregnant or carry her full term. Amazing, right?”

Though she hoped for another miracle, Mrs. Cobb explained her husband was taken off life support Wednesday after being considered brain-dead.

She said her husband’s final gift was donating his organs to save others.

“We took our last walk together as he was taken to surgery, donating organs to three people who will have lives that they would never have expected,” Mrs. Cobb said.

She also shared a letter from Tennessee Donor Services, which revealed that Mr. Cobb’s liver and right kidney went to a 52-year-old man in Virginia, and his lungs went to a 58-year-old man in Tennessee.

Tennessee Donor Services added that a search is in progress for someone to receive Mr. Cobb’s left kidney.

“John was the most unselfish, giving man I have ever known, and I’m very proud to call him my husband,” Mrs. Cobb said. “Again, thank you so much for all of your prayers and love for John and our family.

We will miss our vivacious, anointed, full-of-life husband, father and friend. We are so proud of you, John Cobb! I love you. I love you. I love you.”

The Winchester Police Department is seeking information about anyone who may have fired a rifle into the air between 9:10 p.m. and 9:25 p.m. on July 4 in the area where Mr. Cobb had been.

Anyone with information is advised contact Detective Ryan Fuller with the Winchester Police Department at 931-967-3840 or report the information anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 931-962-4636. •

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