Police: Accused Church Shooter Wanted to be Killed (Hayes Hickman, Don Jacobs)

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Jim D. Adkisson

4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of liberals

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

{xtypo_quote_right} Witnesses said Adkisson had a fanny pack around his waist that contained extra shells for his shotgun."There were shotgun shells all over the place, so he must have thought he was going to get more shots in," Murphy said. "He had those shells everywhere. {/xtypo_quote_right}

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he described his feelings and why he committed the shooting, Owen said.

Adkisson said he was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job and how much he hated the liberal movement, Owen said.

The letter, recovered from Adkisson's 2004 Ford Escape parked in the church's parking lot at 2931 Kingston Pike, indicates he had been planning the shooting for about a week.