By BRAD GASKINS
Special to The Messenger
An adult son allegedly ran over his dad with a pickup truck Wednesday afternoon and then shot another man who likely came to investigate the commotion, Weakley County Sheriff Mike Wilson told The Weakley County Press today.
Dead are David McAlister, 61, and Timothy Betts, 52, both of Greenfield.
Eric McAlister, 40, of Greenfield was arrested and will be charged in the double homicide that happened about 4:30 p.m. at 246 Shades Bridge Road, about a half-mile outside Greenfield city limits.
Eric McAlister was scheduled to be arraigned today in General Sessions Court, according to the sheriff’s office.
David McAlister was working on a water well when his son allegedly ran him over in a pickup truck, Wilson said.
After killing his dad, Eric McAlister allegedly produced a .270 caliber single-shot rifle and fired several rounds at his brother, Raymond McAlister, the sheriff’s office reported today.
Betts then appeared on the scene and was shot. He died from a gunshot wound, Wilson said, speculating Betts went to investigate after hearing David McAlister being struck by the truck.
“I can only imagine that he heard some type of commotion,” Wilson said of Betts.
Wilson said Eric McAlister sustained some type of injury to his hip, but the sheriff wasn’t sure if it was from a gunshot or a result of the impact when he allegedly ran over his father.
Somebody reported the incident to Weakley County 911 at 4:34 p.m.
Eric McAlister surrendered to sheriff’s deputies when they arrived on the scene.
Yellow tape about 100 yards from the brick home kept spectators and family members away from the crime scene. Greenfield police helped secure the perimeter as investigators worked the scene.
A woman approached the scene about 5:30 and told a Greenfield officer she was the grandmother of Eric McAlister and wanted to talk to the alleged killer, who sat in the back of a sheriff’s unit. The officer told the woman she couldn’t talk to him right then.
“I just want him to know that I love him no matter what,” the woman said, crying.
Autopsies are being performed on the victims.
Editor’s note: Brad Gaskins is news editor of The Weakley County Press in Martin.

Published in The Messenger 2.7.13