Woman dies, suspect shot outside North Knoxville credit union

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A woman was shot and killed outside a North Knoxville credit union Wednesday morning during a robbery. Police say the accused shooter was shot by an officer at the scene.

Police identified the woman as Davida Nicholson, in her 40s, of Clinton, a former corrections officer at the Anderson County Jail.

The accused shooter is Brandon James Johnson, 20, of Knoxville. He is charged with one count of first degree felony murder, one count of attempted first degree murder, one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, one count of especially aggravated robbery and five counts of aggravated assault.

Nicholson was shot just before 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, 1316 Wilson Road near Clinton Highway. The credit union was not open for business.

"At first I thought it was a really bad car accident," said nearby business employee Damian Vidal.

"She saw the guy coming up earlier this morning with two dogs and he was beating them, and shouting at cars going up and down the street," said Bob Nelson, the owner of a nearby business.

He was talking about one of his employees who witnessed most of what happened through her office window.

Police say Nicholson was withdrawing money from the credit union's ATM when she was approached by Johnson, who was walking two dogs.

Johnson apparently tried to rob Nicholson, and during a struggle she was shot, then she crashed her Mazda B4000 pickup truck into the side of the bank.

Nicholson had her son, Richard Vowell, 21, in her truck during the incident. He was not injured.

Two other people in the parking lot during the shooting, Shane Phillips, 39, of Dandridge, and Diane Largent, 44, of Knoxville, also were not injured.

Police say Johnson, who was armed with two handguns, shot multiple times at a second vehicle driven by William Letsinger, 36, of Knoxville, as it pulled away from a second ATM, and continued to shoot at other people in the parking lot. Letsinger's truck was struck by two bullets.

"I heard two or three gunshots. I ran out the door, and I saw a red truck pulling away. Then, I heard pow, pow, pow, more gunshots," said witness Holly Burnett who lives across from the bank.

She continued. "I heard like a yell, but I don't know what it was. I don't know if it was the person or the cops."

Johnson eventually pulled Nicholson's son out of her truck and crawled inside it. He was in the truck when the first two officers arrived at the scene.

The officers told Johnson to drop his weapons and step out of the truck, but he refused.

Officer Eric Razote fired one round striking Johnson in the neck, then he was taken from the truck. Johnson's handguns were found in Nicholson's truck.

"It's not what you expect coming into work in the morning, that's for sure," said Nelson.

Nicholson and Johnson were taken to UT Medical Center.

Police say Nicholson was pronounced dead at 9:07 a.m. She worked as a corrections officer until a few months ago, according to Chief Deputy Mark Lucas, with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.

Johnson was treated and released from the hospital.

Officer Razote was also taken to the hospital as routine procedure. He was not injured.

Officials say Officer Razote has been with the department since January 2007. He was placed on administrative leave with pay pending the conclusion of the investigation. This is standard procedure for a shooting involving an officer.

Parts of the incident were filmed by credit union cameras and the officers' in-car recording system. However, police have not released the videos because they are evidence in the continuing investigation.

The dogs were taken by animal control.

Tillery Road was closed for officers to continue their investigation. The credit union was closed Wednesday.

Johnson is being held on bonds totaling more than $2 million.