LATEST UPDATE: East Ridge double homicide suspect's body is believed to have been found.
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ORIGINAL STORY: Police are still searching for a man suspected of killing two people early Sunday morning in East Ridge, but his car has been located in Mississippi and authorities there are trying to locate him.
Casey James Lawhorn, 23, shot his mother, Vi Lawhorn, and his friend, Avery Gaines, 22, of Ringgold, Ga., inside a home in the 1700 block of John Ross Road in East Ridge some time before 5:30 a.m., according to East Ridge Police.
Casey LawhornAuthorities with Jasper County (Miss.) Sheriff's Office have confirmed on Facebook that Casey Lawhorn's vehicle was found on Interstate 59 near the Vossburg exit in Jasper County.
East Ridge Assistant Police Chief Stan Allen said Mississippi authorities were calling in a SWAT team before approaching the vehicle, but they later reported he was not in the vehicle, though he was presumed to still be in Jasper County.
Late Sunday evening, a person purporting to be Casey Lawhorn took to Facebook to post a graphically detailed synopsis of their deaths. The post appeared to have been removed within about three hours.
"Before I start, I need to emphasize that I take full responsibility for my actions," Casey Lawhorn wrote. "Nothing anyone has or hasn't done to me caused this, my decisions and my failures are my own."
He then described picking up his mother from a bar at 12:30 a.m.
When they got home, he shot and killed his friend as he slept on the living room floor with a stolen .22-caliber rifle. He shot his mother at least twice and killed her by 1:30 a.m.
Lawhorn said he wrote the post from the side of Interstate 59 in Mississippi after his vehicle broke down. East Ridge police said they were aware and alerted the relevant agencies in that region.
However, Allen said they were not yet able to confirm whether Lawhorn's narrative was accurate.
Neighbors of Casey Lawhorn gathered in their driveway Sunday afternoon as they talked about the events of earlier that day.
"He gave me the creeps," Terry Kilgore said of Casey Lawhorn. Kilgore lives next to the small white house where the two people had been shot. The family had just moved in some time in February, he said.
A rocking chair sat on the front porch Sunday afternoon, and pink and white flowers grew in a small flower bed to the side, just in front of the driveway.
Vi Lawhorn was "a sweetheart, nice, cordial," Kilgore said. But the son "wasn't too friendly" and never talked even when Kilgore tried to say hello numerous times.
Christopher Heyer lives a house over and agreed with Kilgore. He also said Casey Lawhorn seemed very introverted.
Kilgore said he talked to Vi Lawhorn several times in their yards sharing "over the fence gossip," and both he and Heyer said they'd often see her outdoors planting flowers.
"It's a shame," Heyer said. "It surprised everyone."
Casey Lawhorn called police and told them what had happened, according to a news release, but he fled the scene before police arrived. He was believed to have been in Dade County, Ga., at the time, driving a gold 2002 Ford Taurus with a Tennessee tag number W03-27L.
Officials at the Dade County Sheriff's Office posted to Facebook confirming that a vehicle matching that description had been seen at a gas station in Dade County at approximately 5:30 a.m., but there was no evidence to suggest Casey Lawhorn stayed in the area after he fueled up.
JareMicah Byron Schmidt, an old friend of Casey Lawhorn's, said he hadn't talked to him in a very long time, but he said he hopes his old friend is OK - noting that he'd rather there be two deaths than three - though he knows he's probably not.
"When things like this happen, you look for reasons," he said.
Contact staff writer Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @Hughes Rosana.