Two Dead in Tennessee Store Shooting
A man facing charges of raping and kidnapping his former girlfriend opened fire at the woman’s workplace, leaving one employee dead before killing himself.
The gunman, 43-year-old Thomas Edgar Harrison, remained inside the Electric Picture Co. after the shooting and held off a SWAT team for more than an hour, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said.
When police entered the video production rental store, they found Harrison inside a locked bathroom, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Gregory N. Griffith, 39, of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., was killed after he apparently confronted Harrison. The other 18 people inside the building -- two visitors and 16 employees, including Harrison’s ex-girlfriend -- escaped without injury, Aaron said.
Harrison had been charged with attacking his 26-year-old former girlfriend on June 3. He had been free on $90,000 bond, and the woman had a protection order against him.
Harrison entered the store about 11:15 a.m., gave a fake name and asked to see the woman, Aaron said. He was stopped by company security and escorted out.
He returned with a shotgun. Employees scrambled for safety as Harrison forced his way to the second floor, where he shot Griffith, police said.
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