Sunday, March 27, 2011

Morristown, TN: Shooting at Walmart in Morristown

A peaceful Saturday for shopping was shattered this afternoon as gunfire erupted at a Hamblen County Walmart. Police say 26-year-old James Humphries 3rd shot himself in the head at the entrance of the store.
Posted: 8:57 PM Mar 26, 2011
Reporter: Kate Burgess
Email Address: katharine.burgess@wvlt-tv.com

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (WVLT)--"There was blood everywhere." It's not your typical day at the Walmart, when you see blood being cleaned off the floor. "It's been crazy ever since," says Kyle Whitt, who works at the store.

Employees were trying to get back to business as usual, after James Humphries took his own life. "A lot of the employees are kind of nervous and everything. This isn't something that happens everyday."


Witnesses say Humphries ran into his ex-girlfriend at the store just before the shooting. Ricky Sanders, the Public Information Officer for the Morristown Police Department says, "he just made a threat that he was going to harm himself, then walked away immediately and as he was exiting the Walmart, pulled out the gun and shot himself." Nicholas Dearing was there when it happened. He says chaos erupted after the shooting. "Everybody started shouting, 'call 911. Somebody call 911.'"

Walmart blocked off the entrance way, but the store remained operational during the turmoil. Sanders says, "no one else was harmed, no one was threatened at the time. It was just himself as he exited the Walmart."

Humphries was taken to Morristown-Hamblen Hospital, and was then flown by Lifestar to UT Medical Center where he later died.

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