Mass Shooting in Bristol Tennessee Public Housing Leaves Five Dead

Compiled by Lewis Loflin

Five people died when the distraught boyfriend of a local women went on a shooting spree at a government housing complex in Bristol, Tennessee. This area had already been known for drug shootings and where one resident jumped off the 6th floor to his death. In this case Rusty "Bo" Rumley Jr. set a record. Tabby E. Says:

My name is Tabetha and I knew Rusty Rumley personally I also went to school and was friends with Brandon for years. All of these people will be dearly missed. I just can't believe he did it. I really liked Rusty as a person, he just always came off as someone who needed love, and needed the love of a good woman too. I think if he had found it, it would have saved 5 people and changed his life for the better. To 5 undeservingly short lived lives and 2 friends R.I.P. you will be missed.

The Bristol Herald Courier reports November 6, 2010 that the Bristol Tennessee Housing and Redevelopment Authority has put a freeze on section 8 vouchers due to the flood of applications. "The agency has a current waiting list of 245 applicants, said Executive Director Steve Scyphers, who blames the economy...When you factor in 10 open vouchers a month, a present waiting list of 245 and the background checks and other things we have to do before we reissue a voucher, it's not realistic to take more applications." From the BTHRA website,

Be advised that the Bristol TN Housing & Redevelopment Authority will STOP taking new applications for its Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 Program after November 16th, 2010. This action will remain in effect until further notice and is due to an excessive backlog of applicants resulting in a one-year or longer waiting list.
But to quote the real clincher here,
Scyphers said the irony is that while there's a packed waiting list for the housing vouchers, there are numerous units available for rent in both Edgemont (Towers) and Fort Shelby. "We think it would be a great alternative for people to look at living in the apartments, while they're waiting to be considered for the housing vouchers. But the fact is, some people just don't want to live in high-rises. So that's been an obstacle for us."

Think the shootings, crime, and drugs could be the real reason, Mr. Scyphers? The authority houses about 2,000 at the two complexes and across the City. Their website is at www.bthra.org The rest is compiled news reports. Posted January 3, 2011.

Dead boyfriend in Bristol, Tenn's worst mass murder feared for his life

Brandon Roskos knew his girlfriend's ex boyfriend was distraught. But every time Rusty "Bo" Rumley Jr. threatened to shoot him, Roskos just shrugged it off. To quote his father, "My son never took him serious," Mark Roskos confided hours after police say Rumley shot and killed four people before ending his own young life on a remote hillside about 17 miles away.

What is believed to be the worst mass murder in this city's history spared only the young woman who was the object of both men's affections. Brandi Watson, 19 or 20, managed to escape Rumley after her mother, her boyfriend and two neighbors died from a hail of bullets at Edgemont Towers, 100 Ash St., shortly after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

Rumley, 26, of Watauga, Tenn., then led police to Carter County, Tenn., where he ditched his pickup on a dirt road near his family home and ran off into the wooded hillside. After tracking him for about a mile and a half, a SWAT team heard a single gunshot and found the suspect slumped dead against an embankment, his .45-caliber handgun nearby, along with at least one shell casing that matched those found in Bristol. It was approximately 2 p.m.

Though police remained tight-lipped about a motive for Wednesday's mayhem, clues to Rumley's desperate state of mind surfaced in a distraught letter he left his parents, in recent conversations he'd had with an uncle and in threats Mark Roskos said were made recently to his youngest son, who he added "wouldn't hurt a fly."

"This guy was threatening my son many times," said Mark Roskos, of Bristol, Tenn. "He told him he'd shoot him. My son never took him serious. He used to just laugh it off."

Original URL http://www.timesnews.net/ February 28 2008

5 dead in a murder-suicide in Bristol, Tennessee

BRISTOL, Tenn. - A man shot and killed four people at a high-rise public housing complex and then himself as authorities were pursuing him Wednesday, Bristol police said.

Rusty L. Rumley, 26, opened fire around noon during a domestic dispute at Edgemont Towers, Bristol Police spokeswoman Stephanie Hoskins said. She had no other details on a motive for the shootings. Three people were found dead at the 118-unit apartment complex, which was operated by the city's public housing authority. The fourth victim died at Bristol Regional Medical Center.

Hoskins said Rumley fled the scene in his vehicle and then crashed it near the Sullivan-Carter County line about 15 miles southwest of Bristol, Hoskins said. The vehicle was empty when officers arrived. Hoskins said Rumley was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot off Rasnick Hollow Road in Carter County. Rumley was last known to be living in Watauga, near where his body was found. Fox News February 28, 2008

BRISTOL, Tenn. - A man shot and killed four people at a high-rise public housing complex and then himself as authorities were pursuing him Wednesday, Bristol police said. Rusty L. Rumley, 26, opened fire around noon during a domestic dispute at Edgemont Towers, Bristol Police spokeswoman Stephanie Hoskins said. She had no other details on a motive for the shootings. Three people were found dead at the 118-unit apartment complex, which was operated by the city's public housing authority. The fourth victim died at Bristol Regional Medical Center.

Hoskins said Rumley fled the scene in his vehicle and then crashed it near the Sullivan-Carter County line about 15 miles southwest of Bristol, Hoskins said. The vehicle was empty when officers arrived. Hoskins said Rumley was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot off Rasnick Hollow Road in Carter County. Rumley was last known to be living in Watauga, near where his body was found. AP February 28, 2008



 


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