A man was arrested after a child was killed and two adults were hurt in a shooting at a Clay County home Monday morning.
It happened in the 200 block of North Fork Road.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a school bus driver stopped at the home as normal around 6:30 a.m. Upon stopping to pick up the two children who normally get on the bus there, the driver discovered a woman with a gunshot wound and a juvenile who was not hurt.
The woman and child told the bus driver about the shooting. He called 911 and took them to a nearby fire station for help. The woman was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville for treatment. An update on her condition was not immediately known.
When authorities responded to the home a short time later, they discovered a man with a gunshot wound outside and a girl inside who had been shot to death. Police have not released either of their identities.
The man believed to be responsible for the deadly shooting was taken into custody hours later after an intense manhunt. Schools were placed on lockdown and residents were asked to shelter in place as a precaution.
The suspected gunman’s identity has not been released, but according to the TBI, he had been staying on the property where the shooting happened and was working for one of the residents.
He was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment and will then be taken to the Clay County jail. District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway said he plans to charge the man with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
A motive for the shooting has not yet been released.
News 2 spoke with the bus driver, David Williams, who is being called a hero.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, Sheriff Brandon Boone said, “I’d like to thank that bus driver for the actions he took for getting the child and woman to safety.
Williams, who has been with the Clay County School District for 18 years and described as a “grandfather figure” to those children who ride his bus, did not want to speak on camera, but said, “I wish I could’ve done more.”
Williams told News 2 he did not recognize the injured woman who got on his bus Monday morning.
The bus has since been searched by the TBI and was towed away as part of the investigation.
Clay County’s population is around 7,800 people. Sheriff Boone called Monday’s shooting “very unusual” for the community.
The investigation is ongoing.
