MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — According to authorities, a 21-year-old said he was protecting himself when he shot and killed two men who were allegedly assaulting him outside a Murfreesboro fast-food restaurant overnight.
The Murfreesboro Police Department said officers responded to reports of shots fired at the Cook Out restaurant on Memorial Boulevard just after 1 a.m. on Saturday, July 8.
Police said they found 31-year-old Tony Fuller with a single gunshot wound, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Rutherford County first responders. Meanwhile, Fuller’s 18-year-old brother, Jacob Hawkins, was also shot, but he died shortly after being taken to the hospital.
According to officials, the preliminary investigation shows Fuller and Hawkins initially approached the car, with the 21-year-old man inside, at a McDonald’s drive-thru on S. Rutherford Boulevard, but the driver quickly left the scene to get away from them.
2 men dead after shooting in Murfreesboro, TN; Accused shooter claiming self-defense (wkrn.com)
We preach heavily about Avoidance, De-escalation and deterrence, but sometimes some people are too dumb or to emotionally invested on doing harm that we may have to resolve to defend ourselves. The shortest distance from both locations is 4.7 miles and 9 minutes away according to Google maps.
Investigators said the brothers spotted the same vehicle in the Cook Out drive-thru line, so Fuller and Hawkins approached the car before the three men began to argue. The brothers reportedly started assaulting the 21-year-old while he was sitting in the backseat, so he took out his gun and fired, hitting both of them.
The alleged shooter was one of the people who called 911 to report the shooting, police said.
Even though the motive behind the fight and the deadly double shooting is still unclear, authorities said the 21-year-old is claiming self-defense.
“There were several bystanders, who didn’t know any of those involved, who voluntarily told detectives what they witnessed, and some provided video,” said Criminal Investigations Division Crimes Against Persons Unit Lt. James Abbott, “The witnesses’ account is consistent with the shooter’s claims and with the evidence we collected at the scene.”
As far as having to shoot a human being, this seems to be a happy gathering of evidence and witnesses who support the self-defense claim.
And now for another point that needs to be made: Never Talk To The Media. I checked two other sources and both repeat most of the same story, but one closed the article with this idiocy:
A motive for who started the fight has not yet been determined. Charges have not been filed against the shooter at this time, with further investigation needed before a conclusion can be reached.
Two men killed in shooting outside of fast-food restaurant in Murfreesboro (newschannel5.com)
Whatever may had happened earlier at the McDonalds, it has no relevance on reason why the defensive shooting happened because that particular event was over when the shooter left the McD’s. The two “victims” chose to look or found their target and decided to re-engage with violence. This is a brand-new situation separated by 5 miles and 9 minutes of space and time which could have been used to calm down and think rationally. But I am willing to bet that Ego got mixed with whatever outrage they felt (and intoxicants?) and ended up costing their lives.
And yes, it is accurate that further investigation will be done to render a final report and recommendation, but this outlet makes it sound like the narrative is a lie or not the desire outcome which I suspect is to put the citizen in jail for the crime of self-defense.
Lessons learned.