1975-05-14

Pool hall shooting leaves man dead

by Ben Keck, Globe-News Staff Writer

An Amarillo man was shot to death Wednesday in the drab surroundings of a downtown pool hall, and police say their investigation indicates the shooting was the climax of an argument involving the victim, the suspect and the suspect's wife

Dead on arrival at Amarillo Emergency Receiving Center minutes after the 5 p.m. shooting was Don L Collins, 19, of 2414 NE 11th. Police say he aiso was known as Weldon Artis

Doctors say Collins had 13 buliet wounds in the left arm and upper torso but they were unabie to determine immediately how many were entrance wounds and how many were exit wounds

At the scene of the shooting at the Blue Moon Recreation Club, 109 S. Harrison, officers found seven 45-caliber shells on the floor, but were unable to find a gun

A 23-year-old man who surrendered to police about an hour after the shooting told officers he left a gun on the poo! table when he left the scene Detectives said someone inside the club apparently walked off with the weapon.

Police say the suspect was booked into city jail for investigation of murder after he talked with officers

A witness inside the club, Harold David Lee Henderson, said he was shooting pool and Collins was inside the club when a man walked in and asked to speak with Collins

Henderson said Collins told the man:

"Just a minute. He made the pool shot," Henderson said. "then walked around the table to shoot again. The man pulied a gun and shot twice. The boy fell and the man emptied the gun at the fallen body

Then, the man just sat on the pool table and said, 'I hope you die. Then he ran out," Henderson related

Detective Shelby Vitatoe said the victim and the suspect apparently had been involved in an altercation about 20 minutes before the shooting occurred.

Officers say there were indications the two men were arguing over what one detective described as apparent domestic triangle."

Several persons who heard the shots from outside leaned against the peeling blue plaster of the Blue Moon while police attempted to conduct their investigation inside.

A middle-aged man leaning on the wall
near a trash can in which someone had thrown whisky bottles and a watermelon rind kept asking passersby: "Who got shot?"

Potter County Justice of the Peace Roy E. Byrd ordered an autopsy to be performed on the victim. The body was taken to Warford's Mortuary