Tennessee Man Kills Three Family Members, Including 11-Year-Old Sister; Claims Self-Defense

A Tennessee man killed his mother, sister and stepbrother in a shooting rampage at their home in Maury County and claimed that he carried out the act in “self-defense,” authorities said.

Nathanial Pipkin, 22, shot sister Kailee Warren, 11, brother Carson Pipkin, 20, and mother Traci McNeely, 44, inside their family residence shortly before 6 a.m. Friday. Another male adult — believed to be McNeely’s husband but has not been confirmed — who was home at the time escaped the shooting, New York Post reported Monday.

"One escaped through a window and fled to a nearby home and placed the 911 call," Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland said in a news conference. Police responded to the scene within 10 minutes of the call and found the three victims, the report said.

Pipkin had already fled the scene by the time officers arrived. Police contacted agencies from multiple jurisdictions and issued a "be on the lookout" for him and his 2003 silver Mustang, according to The Columbia Daily Herald.

Pipkin was arrested three hours later without incident at a traffic stop in Marion County, 100 miles away from the crime scene. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing ballistics body armor and was ready for another rampage, Rowland said, adding: "Multiple firearms were in plain view, such as long guns."

"My heart breaks for a family that's been destroyed today," the sheriff was cited as saying by the outlet.

As Pipkin was being taken to jail, he told reporters the shooting was carried out in "self-defense."

An arrest warrant obtained by The Daily Herald stated that Pipkin planned to harm his mother’s husband Jesse McNeely, 47.

Pipkin has a previous record stemming from a March arrest for unlawful weapons possession.

Neighbors were shocked by the heinous crime. "We never imagined we would hear anything like this on this road. Everybody knows each other everybody gets along really well," neighbor Mark Phelps said to WKRN. "It’s surprising and disheartening."

Pipkin is being held at the Maury County jail. According to jail records, he is charged with three counts of aggravated assault resulting in death, three counts of first-degree murder and a charge of attempted murder.