The following story deals with the subject of suicide. If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). You can find a list of additional resources at SpeakingOfSuicide.com.
Alternately, you can text TN to 741741 to connect to the Crisis Text Line and a trained counselor.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and police in Monteagle, Tennessee, are investigating the shooting of a local store clerk Saturday near Interstate 24's exit 135 in an argument over a cup of ice, authorities said.
The man accused of shooting the clerk was found dead near the scene with what police describe as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooting happened around 8 a.m. CDT Saturday at the Marathon store, just off I-24 at the top of Monteagle Mountain, police said Tuesday.
Monteagle police Chief Jack Hill declined to comment on the incident Tuesday. Hill told the Grundy County Herald newspaper over the weekend the man with the gun was identified as Lyndsey E. Powers, and the chief said the incident was "a tragedy but we feel very confident that there is no further threat to the community."
The store clerk, who has not been named, is in "stable but guarded" condition, 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said Tuesday. Powers was found dead under a big rig truck trailer that was parked in the area of the store, Taylor said.
Taylor said the gunshots apparently followed a dispute over a cup of ice.
"He walked into that truck stop and he had a Wendy's cup in his hand and he got some ice, and apparently the clerk told him she would have to charge him for the ice and they got into an argument. He didn't want to pay," Taylor said of initial details.
When the clerk walked out from behind the counter to confront Powers, "he turns around, pulls out a pistol and shoots her in the lower abdomen," Taylor said. He said law enforcement soon converged on the scene and started looking for Powers, who had fled the store.
Officers found Powers' body 200 to 250 feet behind the Marathon store. Taylor said investigators believe Powers shot himself after shooting the clerk and died where he was found.
Powers' body has been sent for an autopsy, Taylor said, "but we don't expect to get results for several weeks."
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Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.