Suspected pawn shop shooter's son: "My father only wanted to kill himself"

Suspected pawn shop shooter's son: "My father only wanted to kill himself"
The man police say shot and killed a Clinton pawn shop clerk may have been trying to kill himself.
Posted: 5:36 PM Nov 8, 2011
Reporter: Kate Burgess

CLINTON, Tenn. (WVLT)--Jason Green thinks his father walked into the South Clinton Pawn to take his own life.

"I don't think he came here to do harm to anybody. He's never been a violent person," Green said.


But because of James Green's violent behavior, police said, Larry Snellings is dead.

On Monday Green walked into the store, asked for a shotgun, and loaded it with shells he'd brought with him. After wrestling with Snellings, the gun went off, killing Snellings. Another worker in the store, shot Green while he ran away.

But Green insisted, "I think he honestly came here to do harm to himself."

He told us his father is a veteran, suffering from PTSD.

"He was in the Navy, and a bomb or torpedo went off right next to where he was on the ship and he had an honorable discharge."

But Green said, his father was never the same. Besides constant tremors, "he didn't have a very good memory. He would forget things like birthdays, anniversaries. He was a distant man."
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