{"id":960890,"date":"2026-07-26T18:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/960890\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T18:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:27:29","slug":"dallas-county-birthday-party-shooting-started-with-dispute-over-line-dance-sheriff-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/960890\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas County birthday party shooting started with dispute over line dance, sheriff says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">DALLAS COUNTY, Ala. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\">WSFA<\/a>) &#8211; What began as a birthday celebration in Dallas County ended with one man shot in the chest, another man jailed on an attempted murder charge and deputies working through a brief standoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Dallas County Sheriff Mike Granthum said deputies were called to Vaughan Regional Medical Center on July 18 after a man arrived with a gunshot wound.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Investigators learned the shooting happened during an outdoor birthday party on Shepherd Drive in the Craig Field area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum identified the injured man as Tommy Jeter. He said Jeter was teaching a woman how to perform a particular line dance when the woman\u2019s husband, Kevin Coleman, came outside and confronted him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cThe husband came out and didn\u2019t like the way he was teaching her how to dance, so to speak,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">According to investigators, Coleman and Jeter exchanged words in front of several other people attending the party. Granthum said Coleman then went back inside the residence and retrieved a handgun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Another argument followed when Coleman returned outside, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cHe starts firing a round, and the round struck Mr. Jeter in the chest one time,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Only one shot was fired, according to the sheriff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said witnesses interviewed so far have not reported seeing anything inappropriate between Jeter and the woman before the confrontation. He said investigators\u2019 early evidence indicates the disagreement centered on how Jeter was teaching her the dance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cAll the evidence leads us to believe it was a verbal altercation over a dance, over a simple dance, that he didn\u2019t like the way it was being done,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">After the shooting, Granthum said Coleman went inside the residence and initially refused deputies\u2019 commands to come out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff described the encounter as a brief standoff. Deputies approached the situation cautiously because investigators believed Coleman was still armed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe knew there was a gun involved. We knew he was still armed,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Coleman was eventually taken into custody, and deputies recovered the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">He was charged with attempted murder and remained jailed as of Friday. Granthum said Coleman was initially held without bond pending a court hearing. A hearing date had not been announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff said investigators are continuing to collect statements from the people who attended the party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Coleman\u2019s wife was distraught after the shooting, according to Granthum, and investigators were still working to obtain a complete statement from her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Despite being shot in the chest, Jeter remained conscious and was able to speak with investigators at Vaughan Regional Medical Center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said Jeter gave deputies a statement before being airlifted to another hospital for additional treatment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cHe was still coherent, still talking, but not doing the best,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff said investigators checked on Jeter\u2019s condition Friday morning. His condition was improving, but he remained in a critical stage of recovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cJust luckily, by the grace of God, we\u2019re not working a murder right now,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff said Coleman could face additional or upgraded charges as investigators gather more evidence and monitor Jeter\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe don\u2019t know the exact circumstances yet,\u201d Granthum said. \u201cWe\u2019re still doing some investigation on it due to the severity of the crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Investigators have also not determined whether alcohol contributed to the confrontation. Granthum said adult beverages may have been available at the party, but investigators were still waiting for blood-test results.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said the shooting reflects a larger problem he has observed during his decades in law enforcement: people increasingly reaching for guns instead of resolving disagreements through conversation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe\u2019re talking grown men in their 50s,\u201d Granthum said. \u201cInstead of sitting down at the table and talking about it, people want to take out a gun. That\u2019s the way they\u2019re solving their problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff said disputes that may have once ended in a fistfight are now more likely to involve firearms, creating a greater risk not only for the people arguing but also for anyone standing nearby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Several guests were outside when the shooting happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf a bullet didn\u2019t have a name when he pulled that trigger, it could have been an innocent bystander that was shot,\u201d Granthum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said firing a gun during a crowded celebration could have caused multiple injuries or deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cGuns are for real. Bullets are for real,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce that trigger is pulled, that bullet can\u2019t come back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Although the birthday party shooting was serious, Granthum said the Dallas County Sheriff\u2019s Office has not seen a broad increase in violent crime within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff\u2019s jurisdiction does not include crimes investigated by the Selma Police Department or other municipal law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said the sheriff\u2019s office had investigated a handful of shootings during the first seven months of 2026 but had not recorded a homicide within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe have had shootings,\u201d Granthum said. \u201cIt\u2019s only by the grace of God that a shooting wasn\u2019t a murder. It may hit them in the leg or in the arm instead of the head or the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The sheriff said property crimes, including burglaries, thefts and metal thefts, have increased. However, he said shootings and other violent offenses have remained relatively limited in the county\u2019s unincorporated areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Granthum said the birthday party shooting remains under investigation. Additional evidence, witness statements and medical information could affect the charges filed in the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wsfa-12-news\/id449733109\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple App Store<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.raycom.wsfa&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Play Store<\/a>! <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) &#8211; What began as a birthday celebration in Dallas County ended with one man&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":960891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,386431,386436,4219,1596,7290,386432,386434,386435,61856,386433,159235,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,53737,53736,65359],"class_list":["post-960890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-birthday-party-shooting","tag-craig-field","tag-crime","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-county","tag-line-dance","tag-mike-granthum","tag-shepherd-drive","tag-sheriffs-office","tag-shot-in-chest","tag-targeting-crime","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wfsa","tag-wsfa","tag-wsfa-12-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116987694186400890","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/960891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}