Alabama authorities in Jackson and DeKalb counties say two brothers are dead in an apparent murder-suicide that likely began Tuesday with the first shooting near Bryant, Ala.
R.C. Rush, 53, of Bryant, was found dead Tuesday night with his deer-hunting equipment in the 1500 block of County Road 290, Jackson County Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said Wednesday.
His killer, believed to be his brother, 54-year-old Carmon Washington Rush, of Pisgah, had taken his brother's pickup truck and left the scene, Harnen said.
The pickup and Carmon Rush's body were found in a DeKalb County hayfield behind Ider Church of Christ on Alabama Highway 75, he said. Carmon Rush had sustained what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
A specific motive is not known, but Harnen said the first shooting was intentional and likely happened during daylight hours Tuesday since R.C. Rush was hunting or had been hunting when that shooting happened, Harnen said.
"We're convinced it was an intentional act, not accidental," Harnen said. There are no known eyewitnesses to the shooting.
Carmon Rush "fled and drove around for a long time and talked to a bunch of different people," Harnen said of the hours after the first shooting. "He never reported the incident to authorities."
Ider and Henagar police assisted Jackson and DeKalb authorities at the DeKalb County scene, Harnen and DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris said.
Harris said DeKalb deputies became involved when they responded to the church on an alert issued just before 1 a.m. CST Wednesday to be on the lookout for R.C. Rush's red Ford Ranger pickup truck.
Both brothers' bodies were taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for examination, officials said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.