NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Investigators discovered a weapons cache with over a dozen firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and body armor during the arrest on Thursday of a man suspected in a double homicide in Alabama.
Tyrone Johnson, 37, was wanted in connection to the fatal shooting of two men outside a motorcycle club in Huntsville, Alabama, on March 27, NBC News reported.
Bernard E. Griffin, 53, and Kelcey W. Smith, 45, were shot and killed late that night outside the club on Mastin Lake Road. Two other men — ages 38 and 46 — were wounded by gunfire.
The shooting happened at the culmination of an ongoing dispute between two motorcycle groups with nearby offices, according to Chief Mark McMurray of the Huntsville Police Department, AL.com reported. He did not identify the name of each club.
“They’ve been arguing for some time, and this just erupted last night,” the chief said when asked about the case at a press conference the next morning. “It finally came to a boil.”
A U.S. Marshal’s task force found 17 firearms, two sets of body armor, and thousands of rounds ammunition when they arrested Johnson at his Tennessee home, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. There was no comment whether the weapons were possessed legally or illegally.
Nashville is about 100 miles north of Huntsville.
We just finished the search of accused Huntsville, AL murder suspect Tyrone Johnson's Flintlock Ct residence in Nashville.
Found: 17 guns, 2 sets of body armor, thousands of rounds of ammo & gang paraphernalia. Johnson being held as a fugitive from AL. $500k bond. pic.twitter.com/ErPJz7DKcb— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) April 30, 2020
The shooting was one of three shootings outside the club within an 8-hour span, according to AL.com.
Albert Vinson, 31, of Madison, has already been charged in the deadly shootings. He’s held in the Madison County jail on two charges of murder, and one charge each of discharging a firearm into an occupied building and first-degree assault.
The three shootings combined left two dead and a total of six injured.
Johnson and Vinson could face up to life in prison if convicted in the deadly shootings at the motorcycle club.
Johnson is being held on a $500,000 bond and is to be extradited to Alabama, according to police.