Chief Mark Gibson addresses the media near the scene of a double homicide in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Cleveland Police Officer Kody Fox secures a portion of Hillview Drive, NW from any traffic as investigators work the scene of two people dead in their home Monday evening.
Cleveland Police investigate a double homicide. The man Cleveland, Tenn., police believe killed a mother and her 5-year-old son in their home Monday was viewed as odd by neighbors.
Cleveland police took Ross Anderson, 31, into custody after discovering Rachael Johnson and her young son dead inside their home at 239 Hillview Drive at 1:14 p.m. Monday. Investigators believe Johnson was about 30 years old. They have not released the name of the boy.
Anderson was taken into custody in Rutherford County, police said. Both victims sustained multiple injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. When found by police, it was determined that the victims had been deceased less than 24 hours.
Anderson has been charged with two counts of first degree murder, public information officer Evie West said. He and Johnson were living together, she said, and the slayings appear to have resulted from a domestic situation.
Neighbors said the pair were dating, and Anderson was known as a "weirdo" in the area.
Once, about a year ago, Anderson knocked on neighbor Eric White's door at 3 a.m., White said. When White answered, Anderson hid behind a brick partition until White called his name and asked what he was doing there.
"He said, 'People have had stuff stolen and I think it's you,'" White remembered. "He said, 'I've got a telescope pointed at your house and I'm watching all the time.'"
White said he saw Anderson's pickup truck being driven up and down the street several times during the weekend.
"He was constantly in and out," he said.
Officers found Johnson and her son after Johnson's employer asked police to check on her because she didn't show up for work Monday. Cleveland Police Chief Mark Gibson could not say how the two were killed, and he would not say what evidence led police to Anderson.
Neighbors were shocked to see police cars descending on their street - a quiet subdivision with large lawns and well-kept houses. Gene Williams said he can't remember another homicide on the street in the 20 or so years he's lived in the neighborhood.
"It's real quiet around here," Williams said. "I can't see something like that happening. You gotta watch yourself."
Investigators taped off much of the neighborhood as they worked to process the scene. After the first officers discovered the boy and his mother and confirmed they were dead, the officers pulled out of the home to wait for crime scene investigators and to obtain a search warrant.
A dozen patrol cars, an ambulance and the Bradley County Sheriff's Mobile Command Unit moved in and out of the neighborhood for hours Monday.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.