18-year-old stealing ammunition kills worker who confronted him, Tennessee cops say

An 18-year-old accused of trying to steal ammunition and other items from a supply store fatally shot an employee during an altercation, according to a Tennessee sheriff’s office.

Larry McBee Jr. entered Rural King Supply in Halls, located within the Knoxville Metropolitan Area, just before 11 a.m. on Dec. 22, according to a news release from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

A 22-year-old employee approached McBee while he was trying to take ammunition, the sheriff’s office said. The two got into a “physical altercation” and McBee fired a gun, fatally striking the employee.

McBee remained at large until just after 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, when officers arrested him at a home in Knoxville, the sheriff’s office said in a second news release. Multiple other agencies, including the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, the Grainger County Sheriff’s Office and the Knoxville field offices of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, assisted with the arrest, Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler said in a statement.

The sheriff’s office also received “numerous” tips from the public that helped deputies catch McBee.

He faces one count of second-degree murder, the release says. He is being held on a $2 million bond, according to Knox County jail records.

Rural King Supply wrote on Facebook that an employee had died in an “incident with a fleeing shoplifter.”

“Our Knoxville team and the associate’s loved ones could use our support and prayers right now as we navigate through this tragedy,” the post says.

The sheriff’s office did not identify the victim, but a GoFundMe created on behalf of the victim’s family said that the family has lost three of their four children.

A friend of the victim’s family, Mary F Holliday, wrote on Facebook that the employee was part of the drama team at Halls High School and was “one of the kindest souls you could ever meet.”

“Rest in peace, sweet boy,” she wrote. “You brought much joy and laughter everywhere you went. This earth will miss your light.”

KFC customer shoots worker in drive-thru after they run out of corn, Missouri cops say

Beloved pizzeria worker ‘Chicken Joe’ killed by stray bullet at work in West Virginia

Walmart knew manager was ‘violent’ before mass shooting at Virginia store, lawsuit says