Highway gunman pleads guilty to killing 1, wounding 3
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – A man who authorities say fatally shot one person and wounded three others when he fired his gun at a hotel and passing cars on a Tennessee highway has pleaded guilty to murder.
News outlets report that 37-year-old Lakeem Keon Scott entered the plea to murder and other charges Thursday morning. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 52 years.
The shooting took place on July 7 along a highway in Bristol, which borders Virginia. Authorities said Scott began by shooting at a Days Inn, and then turned his fire toward passing cars.
Authorities have said Scott, who is black, was motivated to act in response to police violence against African-Americans.
Sullivan County prosecutor Barry Staubus told investigators Scott said he was “tired of seeing my people killed.”
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This story has been corrected to show the number wounded was three and the prosecutor’s name is Barry Staubus.
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