A dispute in the early morning hours of July 11, 2021, in the parking lot of the Ball Gentleman’s Club on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville ended with 36-year-old Broderick Gipson being fatally shot. Gipson, an African American man, was pronounced dead at the scene after a gunshot wound around 4 a.m.; two other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the same incident.

Knoxville Police Department Major Crimes investigators quickly identified 32-year-old Randolph Thomas Garner as the primary suspect. Garner, one of the two injured parties who went to a hospital, was alleged to have brandished and fired a handgun during the altercation and was arrested after his release. He was charged with second-degree murder, booked into the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility, and held on a $150,000 bond; outstanding warrants were also noted.

Gipson’s family and friends described him as a devoted father, son, brother, and friend with an infectious smile. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to come forward.