On January 12, 2026, 21-year-old Tyler Poole of Hermitage, Tennessee was sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and two counts of reckless endangerment related to the September 3, 2024 shooting at the former home of Greg Locke, senior pastor of Global Vision Bible Church.
Poole admitted firing more than 60 rounds of gunfire at the Mt. Juliet residence where the Locke family lived. Although one of Pastor Locke's children was inside the home at the time, no physical injuries were reported as a result of the attack.
According to authorities with the Wilson County Sheriff's Office, Poole has been in custody since his December 4, 2024 arrest, following the execution of a search warrant at his Hermitage residence. The initial charges included aggravated assault, multiple counts of reckless endangerment, and vandalism in connection with the shooting. His bond was previously set at $50,000.
Wilson County Assistant District Attorney Tammy Meade clarified that the incident was not motivated by Pastor Locke's ministry, sermons, or public positions. Investigators determined the shooting resulted from a personal dispute between Poole and a juvenile acquaintance - the pastor's stepson - unrelated to Locke's role as a minister. "It wasn't retribution for anything he did," Meade said, explaining that evidence showed the conflict was between young men rather than tied to Locke's public life.
In issuing his sentence, the court credited Poole for the time he had already served in jail.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Pastor Locke and his family forgave Poole and announced plans to visit him in jail as an expression of grace and reconciliation. Locke publicly affirmed that the safety of his family and their ongoing ministry were his primary concerns, and that any portrayal of the event as a direct attack on his faith or preaching was inaccurate.
The sentencing brings closure to a case that drew widespread attention in 2024, when law enforcement and the local community responded to the shooting that significantly damaged the property but spared the family from physical harm.
