The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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August 20, 2012

Warrant issued in nightclub parking lot murder

By Jeff Lehr Globe Staff Writer

JOPLIN, Mo. — Police are looking for a 21-year-old suspect in the murder of another man Saturday night outside a Joplin nightclub.

A warrant was issued Sunday night for the arrest of Andre L. Brown, also known as Andre Palmer and Damon A. Williams, on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Charles Tumbleson, 25, was fatally shot about 11:30 p.m. Saturday in a parking lot on the south side of Jukebox Saturday Night at 3405 S. Range Line Road. Tumbleson was shot multiple times during an alleged confrontation with Brown, according to Lt. Darren Gallup of the Joplin Police Department.

"The victim and suspect were standing outside near vehicles," Gallup said. "There was a verbal confrontation, but they weren't in the act of fistfighting or anything like that."

Gallup said a probable-cause affidavit filed with the charge in Newton County Circuit Court alleges that Brown shot Tumbleson three times and then walked up and shot him three more times at close range based on accounts of witnesses. But an autopsy being performed by a medical examiner will determine the actual number and location of shots that struck the victim, he said.

Tumbleson and Brown apparently had been feuding for about a week prior to the shooting, Gallup said. He said detectives are still attempting to determine the nature of that dispute and what may have transpired between the two at the bar prior to the shooting.

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