WHITE PINE, Tenn. (WATE) — Law enforcement officials are investigating a shooting at a gas station on Roy Messer Highway that resulted in the death of one person and sent two other people to the hospital.
According to White Pine Police Chief Chad Cotter, who spoke at the active scene Monday night, the shooting happened Monday around 3:45 p.m. at a Pilot gas station near the on-ramp to I-81. Police initially responded to shots fired call and when they arrived, they found three injured people. Christopher Ray Welch, 48, was pronounced dead on the scene. The other two victims, a 58-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, were taken to a hospital and police say they are in critical condition.
Police added a fourth person was involved in the incident but was not injured and the situation appeared to be a domestic situation that had “transpired very quickly.” The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also working on the case alongside the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and White Pine Police. The circumstances leading to the shooting are still being investigated.
White Pine is 38 miles northeast of Knoxville, in Jefferson County, halfway between Morristown and Newport.
Editors Note: This story will be edited when updates are available.
