Updated: Vinson Guard Service lawyer apologizes for shooting

The jewerly security guard involved in Saturday's double shooting is on leave, according to a lawyer representing the Vinson Guard Service.

Knoxville lawyer Deborah Stevens said guard Jessie Walker is staying with family. "He's getting through it. It's difficult on him and his family," she said.

Stevens apologized for the shooting on behalf of Vinson Guard Service, which is the company that Walker worked for. However, she worries that the wrong picture of Walker is being painted.

A lawyer representing victim Kevin Bowman said Tuesday that the guard exercised powers he didn't have.

On that topic, Stevens said, "I disagree with the characterization that there was nothing going on and that the guard just shot him."

According to Stevens, Walker has been instructed not to talk with the media.

A report released by Knoxville Police Wednesday revealed little about the shooting.

The report did say Walker is currently under investigation for aggravated assault. He has not been charged and is not in custody.

Knoxville attorney T. Scott Jones said Tuesday that his firm has hired two private investigators to look into the shooting.

Jones said he had been hired to represent the interest of 21-year-old Kevin Bowman's relative. Bowman was one of two people who Knoxville Police say were shot by the guard.

"The security officer chose to exercise arrest powers and things that he doesn't have the right to do under Tennessee law and discharged his weapon not once but thrice, shooting Mr. Bowman in the head, then he shot at Ms. Day and missed her, and then shot here with third shot and actually struck her," said Jones.

Knoxville Police Spokesman Darrell DeBusk identified the guard Monday night as 63-year-old Jessie Monroe Walker.

KPD met with the District Attorney General's office on Monday about possible charges against Walker. Investigators conducted additional interviews on Tuesday and provided that information to the DA's office.

Jones said his private investigators have talked to a witness who saw the whole incident. "

The eyewitness says that they never took a step toward him and Mister Bowman raised his shirt and said , hey I don't have a weapon," said Jones.

UT Medical Center was no longer releasing information on the two victims, 21-year-old Kevin Bowman and 18-year-old Elizabeth Day.

But Bowman's attorney said Tuesday afternoon his client was in critical condition, in a medically induced coma.

DeBusk said officers were called to the parking lot of Markman's Diamonds and Jewelry store on Kingston Pike around 2:30 p.m. Saturday to investigate a report of a domestic dispute. Before the police arrived, the situation had escalated into a shooting involving the Markman's security guard.

Witnesses said Bowman and Day were arguing while driving east on Kingston Pike. The couple pulled into Markman's, got out of the car, and continue arguing in the parking lot and a grassy area between the jewelry store and Papa John's. Employees called police to report the domestic dispute.

Police said Walker was posted at Markman's but is employed by Vinson Guard Service. DeBusk said the guard shot Bowman and Day in the parking lot. Witnesses said after the shooting, Bowman was face-down in the parking lot and unable to get up. Day reportedly ran into the jewelry store.

Walker was uninjured in the altercation. Police said Walker has been employed with Vinson since 2006.

An eyewitness, Jimmy Proffitt, saw the shooting unfold from the nearby Papa John's Pizza parking lot.

I could hear loud voices. The security guard backs up and I could see he had his pistol out," said Proffitt. "Through the trees I could see and hear two shots fired. Not really quick behind each other, just pow... pow."

Proffitt added, "A few minutes later, he [the security guard] is backing up out of my view and the girl heads that way and I hear one more shot."

Vinson Guard Service is based in New Orleans. Its website says it is one of the largest privately owned security services in the nation. It operates 20 locations around the Southeast. The company says it provides armed and unarmed training for its guards.

Harold Markman owns Markman's Diamonds and Jewelry store. 10News reached Markman by phone over the weekend but he did not wish to comment on the incident.