Oil-Truck
Driver Is Dead After Exchange of Fire on Hixson Pike
A
man identified by county police authorities as Johnny A. Davis, 29, of Rt. 1,
Hixson, was shot to death at the Dallas Esso Service Station at Dallas Hollow
Road and Hixson Pike shortly before 11 p.m. Monday.
His
death occurred in what was reported to the sheriff's office as an exchange of
fire with Oscar Reno, 64, owner of the station, and his son, Willard Reno, 42.
The elder Reno and Davis were said to have been armed with shotguns. The younger
Reno had a 22-caliber rifle.
Davis
died with a shotgun wound in his chest. The charge from his weapon struck the
station wall. The shooting victim was formerly a taxi driver. He was employed by
the oil company Monday.
County
officers arrested the senior Reno on a charge of murder and booked his son on a
charge of felonious assault. Officers said the rifle bullet missed Davis.
A
Williamson-Garrison ambulance was called to the scene. Davis was dead when the
ambulance arrived.
County
officers were told that Davis was at the station earlier in the night and
started to walk behind the counter. The elder Reno ordered him out and Davis
reportedly said he would go home for his shotgun and return. The shooting broke
out when he came back later in the night.
The
slaying was investigated by Deputy Coroner Dick Hutsell; by Capt. A. L.
McCullough; Detective Al Holder, and Patrolman Bill Graham, Jim Keith, Bert
Hogue, and Earl Rogers.
Chattanooga, September 1961
Submitted
by Connie Baumann
LITTLE TN@aol.com