Charles Tumbleson and Andre Brown had been feuding for about a week before Brown shot and killed Tumbleson late Saturday night outside a Joplin nightclub, a probable-cause affidavit alleges.
Brown was inside Jukebox Saturday Night at 3405 S. Range Line Road about 11:30 p.m. when friends informed him that Tumbleson was in the parking lot, according to the affidavit filed Monday in Newton County Circuit Court.
Brown walked out and confronted his antagonist while holding a handgun at his waist, the affidavit states. Brown asked him “if they had a problem.”
Tumbleson “reached behind his back,” and Brown shot him three times, the affidavit states. Brown then walked up to where Tumbleson lay crumpled on the pavement and shot him three more times before fleeing the scene, the document alleges.
Tumbleson, 25, of Joplin, was pronounced dead a short time later at Freeman Hospital West.
A warrant was issued Sunday night charging Brown, 21, with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. The suspect, who remained at large Monday, is believed to have come to Joplin a couple of months ago, possibly from out of state, according to police Lt. Darren Gallup.
Gallup said the nature of the dispute between the two men remains under investigation. He said the number of shots cited by the affidavit as having been fired by the suspect is based on the apparent number of wounds observed on the victim’s body and on witnesses’ accounts of the shooting.
He said investigators have found no evidence of any exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the victim. He said there was an oral confrontation, but no punches thrown nor any other type of physical altercation between the two men, in the parking lot preceding the shooting.
Gallup declined to comment on whether Tumbleson had a gun or any other weapon in his possession. He said that remains an investigative matter.
An autopsy was conducted Monday in Springfield.
“We’re waiting for the autopsy results to come back before we’ll know exactly how many times (the victim) was shot,” Gallup said.
He said at least three people other than the victim and suspect witnessed the shooting. Detectives have talked with several others who have some knowledge of it, he said.
The shooting took place in the parking lot on the south side of the club. Gallup said the nightclub has no surveillance cameras there. Investigators with the Tri-State Major Case Squad canvassed other businesses in the area to see whether any had cameras that captured the shooting, but they came up empty, Gallup said.
Police initially thought they were looking for two men who ran away, but they corrected that statement on Monday.
“With the information we received overnight, we’re just looking at one suspect at this time,” Gallup said.
Aliases
HOMICIDE SUSPECT ANDRE L. BROWN also is known to have used the aliases of Andre Palmer and Damon A. Williams, according to Joplin police. Police said anyone with information about his whereabouts or the shooting at Jukebox Saturday Night is being asked to call local law enforcement or Crime Stoppers at 417-782-TIPZ.
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