"This Is The Way It Had To Go"

"DICKSON, TN — A man shot and killed his mother, then turned the gun on himself Monday afternoon at a local nursing home.

"Dickson Police Detective Chad Fussell explained Gary Hotvedt, 60, of Charlotte, visited his mother Eileen Hotvedt, 86, at Dickson Healthcare on 901 N. Charlotte St. in Dickson.

"Gary took his mother for a walk around 3:50 p.m. in the nursing home’s courtyard, behind the facility’s main entrance just off North Charlotte Street and adjacent to the facility’s chapel.

"The male then shot his mother in the back with a Colt .38-caliber pistol and turned the gun on himself. Fussell said the subjects were dead on scene.

"The mother and son hailed from the Charlotte area, and Fussell explained the shooter appeared to have planned out his actions.

"`There’s a note that this was planned out, that this was something that he was going to do,` said Fussell. `Tell everybody he was sorry but this is the way it had to go. So that’s about all we have right now.`

"Fussell declined to release the subjects’ names at press time. He was not aware of any reported unusual behavior from the shooter prior to the murder-suicide.

"A spokesperson with Dickson Healthcare said they’re deepest sympathies go out to everyone involved in the tragedy. They’ve turned the investigation over to the proper authorities, and are fully cooperating with the investigation."

From The Tennessean...