Channel5-TV News, Nashville
A police standoff in East Nashville with a man suspected of killing two people over the weekend ended after SWAT team members found the man dead inside a van Monday night.
The standoff began Monday around 4 p.m. after William Timothy Melton, 46, shot Allen Thomas, 57, who was picking up trash at the Holiday Mobile Home Park, located on Grizzard Avenue off of Dickerson Pike, police spokesman Don Aaron said.
The standoff ended around 6:15 p.m. after police fired a chemical agent into the van Melton was holed up in after he failed to respond to a police negotiator.
After Melton failed to exit the van, SWAT members moved in and found him dead, Aaron said.
A medic said Melton had a wound to the head, Aaron said. It was believed Melton shot himself.
Police will now investigate Melton’s connection to the weekend murder of Thomas Warren, 56, and his wife, Marian, 53, who were found dead in their trailer home on Saturday.
It’ unclear why Melton shot Thomas Monday afternoon, but before shooting him, Melton used a racial slur. Thomas’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.