Shooter kills one at Mississippi courthouse

CANTON, Miss. – William A. Wells was a former firefighter who had never been in any more serious legal trouble than some traffic tickets – until his mother was shot.

Kendrick Armond Brown was facing up to life in prison for felony drug charges under Mississippi’s three-strikes habitual offender law.

But it was Wells who Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said parked at the County Courthouse around 9 a.m. Monday, got out of his maroon Toyota Tundra pickup truck, walked up to the 37-year-old Brown, and shot him once in the chest with a semi-automatic handgun.

Brown, who was supposed to appear in court Monday, died there in a courtyard. Sheriff’s deputies witnessed the whole thing from a security checkpoint inside the glass-walled, courthouse lobby, and Wells laid down his gun and surrendered as soon as they came out, Tucker said.

Why did the 24-year-old Wells shoot Brown? Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest said Monday authorities are investigating whether Wells was seeking revenge for the Saturday night shooting of his mother, Sherry Wells.

Canton police Chief Otha Brown said Sherry Wells was shot while driving to work. She drove to the Canton police station, about 200 yards across a parking lot from where Monday’s shooting took place, reported the crime, and then was taken to a hospital with a knee injury. Brown said early Monday that Canton police had no suspects. Sherry Wells was later released from the hospital.

Sherry Wells was scheduled to testify against Brown. Guest described her as an informant. He later wrote in a text message to the Associated Press that authorities are “most definitely” investigating retaliation as a motive.

Wells is scheduled to make his first court appearance today, when a judge will decide whether to grant him bond.

Before Monday, “he hadn’t been in any trouble or anything,” the police chief said.

Wells only had minor traffic tickets on his record, including a speeding ticket from 2009 and two tickets for improper license plates in 2013 and 2014, according to court documents. Canton Fire Chief Andrew Hughes said Wells was a firefighter for about a year before quitting in June 2014.

There are metal detectors inside the courthouse door, but the parking lot is open to the public. After the shooting, officers searched with metal detectors for the bullet casing.

Guest said he thought there was little deputies could have done to prevent the shooting.