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Search suspended for Reelfoot Lake shooting suspect; survivor tells investigators what he witnessed
UNION CITY, Tenn. — Investigators are left looking for both a suspect and a motive for a deadly double shooting in a hunting blind at Reelfoot Lake. David Vowell The search for 70-year-old shooting…
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triple_duece
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Been reading the forum s about it for a couple days. I will wait for facts before commenting. It’s a tragedy either way.
The longer it goes on, the fishier it gets to me. Several stories says the third party who knocked him out of his boat last saw him walking towards the bank as he was rushing his friends to get them help. I guess if that is the case, maybe hypothermia, shock, unconsciousness and then with the water levels rising due to the rain they were getting, ....... ugh I don't know man. Sad, sad situation.
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
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I’ve read a lot of threads on it. A lot of speculation and opinions were posted. It has went full circle. Nothing seems fishy as no hard facts have been released except for body found and two dead by gunshot. Horrible thing that has happened in our hunting community for sure. Everything I’ve read seems legit or plausible. Everyone’s speculation has muddied up the waters.
older people putting blame on younger hunters and the opposite of that young vs old. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. I do know this, duck hunting has went to shit over my lifetime of hunting ducks in 46 years. The internet and social media I believe is the biggest contributor. Along those lines is the respect for the sport and fellow hunter. Most on this site is deer hunters and you to have witnessed it also to some degree, more so if you hunt public land.
This will only get worse until we are regulated out of hunting. It’s crazy and also lucrative for some that make their living in the outdoor world.
Back to the situation of the topic, it is my opinion that there should never be private blinds on public land and the state shouldn’t have a draw for public blinds. Within those anyone can set up too close and then you have potential for what has already happened. Just my 2 cents
older people putting blame on younger hunters and the opposite of that young vs old. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. I do know this, duck hunting has went to shit over my lifetime of hunting ducks in 46 years. The internet and social media I believe is the biggest contributor. Along those lines is the respect for the sport and fellow hunter. Most on this site is deer hunters and you to have witnessed it also to some degree, more so if you hunt public land.
This will only get worse until we are regulated out of hunting. It’s crazy and also lucrative for some that make their living in the outdoor world.
Back to the situation of the topic, it is my opinion that there should never be private blinds on public land and the state shouldn’t have a draw for public blinds. Within those anyone can set up too close and then you have potential for what has already happened. Just my 2 cents
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
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BREAKING NEWS UPDATE (Feb. 1, 2021):
The search for double murder suspect David Vowell ended Saturday with the discovery of his body at Reelfoot Lake.
Vowell, a 70-year-old Martin businessman with no prior criminal record, was being sought on arrest warrants for two counts of first-degree murder.
The charges stemmed from a shooting at Reelfoot Lake which claimed the lives of 26-year-old Chance Black and 25-year-old Zackary Grooms, both of Greenfield, who were laid to rest in funeral services Sunday and today.
After a days-long search effort, Vowell’s body was recovered about 3 p.m. Saturday near the area of the incident, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Vowell’s identity was confirmed and an autopsy will be performed, a TBI spokesman said Saturday night.
District Attorney General Tommy Thomas said there was no apparent gunshot wound on Vowell’s body in initial examination by law enforcement authorities.
The bizarre shooting happened Jan. 25 at a duck blind on the north end of Reelfoot Lake in rural Obion County, where law enforcement and emergency medical services responded about 11 a.m. to the Walnut Log area for a report of two people having been shot.
Vowell was said to be alone when he approached the duck blind where the shooting occurred. Thomas said Vowell reportedly had come from another blind close by and asked if he could hunt with Black, Grooms and a third man, Jeff Crabtree, who consented.
“And then, according to Crabtree ... with no explanation, he (Vowell) shot them (Black and Grooms),” Thomas said.
Crabtree, reported to be around age 60, is NOT a suspect in the shooting incident. Thomas said derogatory comments made about him on social media in recent days are terrible and totally unnecessary.
“It appears that (Crabtree) did what he could to thwart Mr. Vowell and certainly saved his own life,” Thomas told The Messenger today, sharing that Crabtree also did all he could to try to save the lives of his two young friends.
In the aftermath of the shootings, Crabtree took the gun away from Vowell and hit him with the butt of the firearm, knocking Vowell out of the blind and into the water, according to Thomas, referencing a statement the witness and sole survivor gave the TBI.
Crabtree allegedly threw the gun into the water — described as waist deep at that time last Monday — and took the two injured men by boat to the shore to seek medical help.
Thomas said as Crabtree boated away, he looked back and saw Vowell get up and appear to make his way toward the bank, which wasn’t too far away.
“And that’s the last he saw of him,” the DA said.
Vowell’s truck was located at a boat dock the day of the shooting, while his boat was found last Tuesday morning a couple hundred yards away from the blind. High water due to recent rains had halted search efforts Wednesday at the lake, but the search for any signs of Vowell had resumed Friday by land, water and air.
Late last week, Thomas said he was planning to issue a news release today in an effort to clear up some of the rumors and “conspiracy theories” surrounding the shooting, but that changed with the discovery of the body Saturday. The DA now plans to wait until preliminary autopsy results are received in a couple weeks before releasing those results and an official statement.
Thomas told The Messenger he is concerned about “all this garbage surrounding Mr. Crabtree” from individuals who “watch way too many crime shows and way too many news shows that are less than honest.”
Reiterating that Crabtree is not a suspect, he said it’s easy for people on the sidelines to second guess what took place in a split-second as tragedy unfolded in the duck blind.
“A lot of people think that they would have no problem shooting somebody, but a person with a normal moral code and conscience normally would have some reluctance to kill another human being,” Thomas said.
“(Crabtree) could accomplish what he wanted to do by knocking (Vowell) out of the blind. He hit him a few times in the head, he said, and knocked him out of the blind, and that eliminated the threat, short of killing him ...”
Thomas also explained that Crabtree was not put in a position where he could shoot Vowell to stop him from shooting the two young men because they had both already been shot by the time he had access to a gun. He said he believes it would have been much different if Crabtree had been put in a position to shoot Vowell to stop him from shooting his two friends.
“Once he got ... the gun away from (Vowell), so he was no longer in danger, actually if he had shot him then he’d be guilty of a homicide. Then he would have violated the law if he had become judge, jury and executioner on the scene,” the DA said, explaining that the threat had been eliminated.
While the exact motive of the shooting remains unclear, The Messenger asked Thomas about unconfirmed reports that Vowell possibly suffered from dementia or some type of mental issue. The DA said it’s his understanding Vowell had made some statements about being concerned he was perhaps having dementia issues, but he can’t say for certain.
“Nothing about this makes any sense,” Thomas said. “Nothing.”
Thomas said as far as the criminal case, everything is pending preliminary autopsy results.
“It appears at this point that, barring some unforeseen development, then that’s going to wind this case up as far as any criminal investigation,” he said this morning.
The search for double murder suspect David Vowell ended Saturday with the discovery of his body at Reelfoot Lake.
Vowell, a 70-year-old Martin businessman with no prior criminal record, was being sought on arrest warrants for two counts of first-degree murder.
The charges stemmed from a shooting at Reelfoot Lake which claimed the lives of 26-year-old Chance Black and 25-year-old Zackary Grooms, both of Greenfield, who were laid to rest in funeral services Sunday and today.
After a days-long search effort, Vowell’s body was recovered about 3 p.m. Saturday near the area of the incident, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Vowell’s identity was confirmed and an autopsy will be performed, a TBI spokesman said Saturday night.
District Attorney General Tommy Thomas said there was no apparent gunshot wound on Vowell’s body in initial examination by law enforcement authorities.
The bizarre shooting happened Jan. 25 at a duck blind on the north end of Reelfoot Lake in rural Obion County, where law enforcement and emergency medical services responded about 11 a.m. to the Walnut Log area for a report of two people having been shot.
Vowell was said to be alone when he approached the duck blind where the shooting occurred. Thomas said Vowell reportedly had come from another blind close by and asked if he could hunt with Black, Grooms and a third man, Jeff Crabtree, who consented.
“And then, according to Crabtree ... with no explanation, he (Vowell) shot them (Black and Grooms),” Thomas said.
Crabtree, reported to be around age 60, is NOT a suspect in the shooting incident. Thomas said derogatory comments made about him on social media in recent days are terrible and totally unnecessary.
“It appears that (Crabtree) did what he could to thwart Mr. Vowell and certainly saved his own life,” Thomas told The Messenger today, sharing that Crabtree also did all he could to try to save the lives of his two young friends.
In the aftermath of the shootings, Crabtree took the gun away from Vowell and hit him with the butt of the firearm, knocking Vowell out of the blind and into the water, according to Thomas, referencing a statement the witness and sole survivor gave the TBI.
Crabtree allegedly threw the gun into the water — described as waist deep at that time last Monday — and took the two injured men by boat to the shore to seek medical help.
Thomas said as Crabtree boated away, he looked back and saw Vowell get up and appear to make his way toward the bank, which wasn’t too far away.
“And that’s the last he saw of him,” the DA said.
Vowell’s truck was located at a boat dock the day of the shooting, while his boat was found last Tuesday morning a couple hundred yards away from the blind. High water due to recent rains had halted search efforts Wednesday at the lake, but the search for any signs of Vowell had resumed Friday by land, water and air.
Late last week, Thomas said he was planning to issue a news release today in an effort to clear up some of the rumors and “conspiracy theories” surrounding the shooting, but that changed with the discovery of the body Saturday. The DA now plans to wait until preliminary autopsy results are received in a couple weeks before releasing those results and an official statement.
Thomas told The Messenger he is concerned about “all this garbage surrounding Mr. Crabtree” from individuals who “watch way too many crime shows and way too many news shows that are less than honest.”
Reiterating that Crabtree is not a suspect, he said it’s easy for people on the sidelines to second guess what took place in a split-second as tragedy unfolded in the duck blind.
“A lot of people think that they would have no problem shooting somebody, but a person with a normal moral code and conscience normally would have some reluctance to kill another human being,” Thomas said.
“(Crabtree) could accomplish what he wanted to do by knocking (Vowell) out of the blind. He hit him a few times in the head, he said, and knocked him out of the blind, and that eliminated the threat, short of killing him ...”
Thomas also explained that Crabtree was not put in a position where he could shoot Vowell to stop him from shooting the two young men because they had both already been shot by the time he had access to a gun. He said he believes it would have been much different if Crabtree had been put in a position to shoot Vowell to stop him from shooting his two friends.
“Once he got ... the gun away from (Vowell), so he was no longer in danger, actually if he had shot him then he’d be guilty of a homicide. Then he would have violated the law if he had become judge, jury and executioner on the scene,” the DA said, explaining that the threat had been eliminated.
While the exact motive of the shooting remains unclear, The Messenger asked Thomas about unconfirmed reports that Vowell possibly suffered from dementia or some type of mental issue. The DA said it’s his understanding Vowell had made some statements about being concerned he was perhaps having dementia issues, but he can’t say for certain.
“Nothing about this makes any sense,” Thomas said. “Nothing.”
Thomas said as far as the criminal case, everything is pending preliminary autopsy results.
“It appears at this point that, barring some unforeseen development, then that’s going to wind this case up as far as any criminal investigation,” he said this morning.
Thanks for sharing. Anyone ever hunted that lake? I have been reading that it is world famous, and conflicts are prevalent. Often disputes over private blinds vs. public. Kind of a wild wild west for duck hunting. A forum called the Duck Hunter's Refuge has a 114 page thread entitled, Good Ol Reelfoot Drama, that obviously spiked with this event. I only got to page 14 before I tapped out.