The home where the incident occurred, seen here Monday morning, Nov. 13, 2017, is located in the Carrol Acres subdivision on the southeast side of the city of Cullman. / Wendy Sack
Updated 11-13-17 9:07 a.m.
CULLMAN – Details continue to emerge this morning after a double shooting left one man dead and the other in critical condition early Sunday evening. The incident occurred at 1829 Cottonwood Dr. SE in the Carrol Acres subdivision in the city of Cullman and is being investigated by the Cullman Police Department (CPD). According to Lt. Gene Bates, the two people shot were stepfather and stepson.
Cullman County Coroner Jeremy L. Kilpatrick late Sunday night identified the deceased as Perry Shoemake, 56, of Cullman. The injured party, who was identified by the CPD early Monday as William Thomas Maddux, 27, remains in critical condition at UAB Hospital.
Early Monday morning, Sgt. David Nassetta, the lead investigator on the case, said, "The one who was transported is our suspect. As of last night, he was still in surgery. I have not heard anything else this morning."
Nassetta continued, "What we believe is that the suspect, who is also the stepson of the man who is deceased, attempted to come into the house. He was not let in. The suspect ended up coming back and breaking in the back door of the house. He came in and there was an exchange of gunfire. The suspect then attempted to commit suicide. He suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head."
As to a possible motive for the shooting, Nassetta said the preliminary investigation has revealed that Maddux was upset because his mother and stepfather would not give him money, but said he thinks there's a lot more to it than that. "That's a pretty big leap to make," he said, "going from being upset over money to shooting someone and attempting to kill yourself."
Bates, who was active on the scene, said Sunday night, "The incident happened at 1829 Cottonwood Dr. SE. Officers got a call shortly after 4 p.m. Upon arrival, they found one male subject deceased and another male subject suffering from a gunshot wound."
Bates said the injured man was flown to UAB, but there has been no update on his status.
"This does involve a stepfather and stepson," he said. "We're real early into this investigation. We just know there was a dispute between them."
Bates said no one else was injured, although there was someone else at home during the incident.
This is a developing story.
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