Six Murdered in Tennessee and Alabama

Some of Victims Related; Police Say They Have a Suspect in Custody for 'Horrendous' Killings

(AP)  Five people were found slain in two homes in southern Tennessee Saturday, some of whom were related, and a sixth person at a Huntsville, Ala., business, said authorities who have a suspect in custody.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm said in an e-mail that 30-year-old Jacob Shaffer, of Huntsville, was being questioned but no charges have been filed. She said he was sitting on the front porch of one of the homes in Lincoln County when deputies arrived and that he was being held by local authorities.

Lincoln County Sheriff Murray Blackwelder said at a news conference that his department is investigating three crime scenes, though he did not elaborate. He did not release the victims' names and would not confirm the causes of death. He also did not release a motive in what he called "horrendous" killings and "one of the worst crimes Lincoln County has seen."

Helm said some of the Tennessee victims were related and that the killings happened Friday night or early Saturday.

Authorities did not release ages, but Karon Weatherman, who lives about a half-mile away, said she saw children as young as 4 and 5 running back and forth between the homes that are across the road from each other in the rural area near Fayetteville.

Huntsville Police Sgt. Mickey Allen, who works for the city's major crimes unit, told TV station WAFF that based on the suspect's information, police found a body at Hall Cultured Marble Granite late Saturday morning.

One of the Tennessee homes was once a skating rink that was converted into a duplex, said Weatherman. She did not know the family but said they moved in about a year ago in the area made up of mostly rental houses.

"I wouldn't expect nothing like this to happen," she said.

Fayetteville is a town of 7,000 people about 90 miles south of Nashville near the Tennessee-Alabama border. Huntsville is the largest city in northern Alabama with more than 170,000 people and is about 30 miles south of Fayetteville.

[toldyouso29]

Of course...the neighbors NEVER expect stuff like this to happen...Whether it is a man who kills his entire family or a drug deal gone bad, or a murder spree--the neighbors are always : "shocked...and I do mean shocked, I tell you..." which means either most Americans are poor judges of characters...have no clue what is going on in their own neighborhoods or are liars who are trying to mitigate that they lived next door to loathsome or questionable persons.

The real deal is--there are always signs , we may fail to note them or feel it is none of our business--but there are always signs to aberrant behavior--even most dogs who bite growl and don't wag their tails just before biting.

[outlaw 4555]

I will have my guns, no matter what law is written or who says what! Come take them and I will get more. When a sumofahbeech come s on my propert to rob or steal, I am going to kill him WITHOUT a warning. End of story.

[bajajohn1]

Huntsville is a very nice, beautiful city full of educated folks. It is home to a vast number of folks involved in NASA, aerospace and defense technologies. Lots of scientists, engineers, etc. and also Redstone Arsenal. Great crappie, bass and catfish, fishing in the area around Guntersville and Decatur.

[salmoc44]

This is why I let my toddlers walk around the house with large handguns. This way, they'll be able to defend themselves from people trying to do them harm.

[Thalia-9]

LOLOLOLOL!!!

[robinspp]

40 Percent of gun sales in the US occur without an ID or background check requirement
40 Percent of American households that contain both children and guns
83 Average number of Americans killed by guns EVERYDAY
1,260 Average number of annual firearm homicides in the European Union (pop 376 million)
10,821 Average number of annual firearm homicides in the US (pop 282 million)
34,000 Average number of Americans killed by guns EVERY YEAR
Isn't it time that we enact uniform national gun laws and initiatives that promote and require gun safety and accountability on the part of gun owners, clubs, dealers, manufactures and law enforcement rather than the current gun policy, dictated by the special interest gun lobby, that allows unrestricted access to all guns by all people including kids, criminal and terrorists? If we did we could reduce the number of annual gun deaths and injuries to a fraction without any undue hardship on law abiding gun owners like me.

[bigreddog222]

The issue lies within the word criminal. Any further restrictions on guns will only affect lawful owners of guns (like myself). The criminals are not going to rush out try to be compliant with any gun law. They trade, steal, borrow, and kill for their weapons which eliminates any intented good of a new gun law.

[stupidrules3]

People who commit crimes with guns are fully aware that they are violating the law when they commit their crimes. What good will more laws do when it is obvious that the criminals do not respect the current laws? You can pass all the laws you want but it does nothing to reduce the will of criminals to commit heinous acts with guns.

[rondivoo]

This info is incorrect. First, it is already against the law for a convicted felon to possess a gun. There are already laws in place to control the purchase of guns. A criminal does not abide by the law... hence the futility of keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

[Thalia-9]

I agree w/ you rondivoo - you can't blame the gun for the stupidity of an individual's actions. it's an old but tue cliche that if you take guns away then only the criminals will have guns.

and this unbelievably ridiculous, uneducated quote??:

"the current gun policy, dictated by the special interest gun lobby, that allows unrestricted access to all guns by all people including kids, criminal and terrorists"

Robinspp, you are the epitome of mouth to mouth research w/out doing any of your own homework to verify what is accurate before you post your blatent ignorance to the world in a blog - the uneducated educator is the most dangerous indiviual wandering about.

[winchester70]

This was posted on another thread under another name. Different name, same old BS.

...could be that they discovered that they weren't related.

[cydygitt1]

Come now....everyone in that neck of the woods drinks moonshine and is related!