Welcome to Arrest Stories. A twenty-seven-year-old man faces two counts of first-degree murder after allegedly shooting two people dead at a Tennessee home before fleeing and dumping his vehicle in a lake, sparking a multi-county manhunt that ended when a local resident spotted him in their yard. Here's what may have happened.
Sunday just before noon, deputies rushed to a residence in the one hundred block of Freeman Lane in Rickman, Tennessee, responding to reports of gunshots. What they discovered was devastating - two people dead from gunshot wounds outside the home. The alleged shooter, Payton Nations, had already fled the scene.
Authorities immediately issued a BOLO alert for Nations and his vehicle. The twenty-seven-year-old suspect wasn't taking any chances with his getaway. A fisherman on Center Hill Lake witnessed Nations push a vehicle matching the description into the water at Austin Bottom Lake Access. The suspect had abandoned his ride in the lake in DeKalb County, attempting to destroy evidence of his escape route.
But Nations was far from free. He was spotted walking on Old Baxter Road in Putnam County as law enforcement closed in. Troopers and deputies tracked the murder suspect through multiple counties, finally cornering him in Silver Point by nightfall.
The dramatic conclusion unfolded at a private residence when a local family became unwitting heroes. "My daughter looks out the window and she says, 'Dad, that guy that the cops are looking for — she called him the shooter — is outside,'" the homeowner recalled. The quick-thinking resident immediately contacted police.
Nations was taken into custody outside Whitehead's home, ending the tense manhunt. Whitehead later posted on Facebook to alert his community that the suspect had been captured, providing relief to nervous residents. "This is a serious matter. We were all on pins and needles," one local said, while another admitted, "Just thinking about something like that, that could happen — it's pretty terrifying."
Nations now faces two counts of first-degree murder with bond set at forty million dollars.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.