Shooting victim in serious condition at UT Medical Center

The woman who was shot on Walsh Lane on Friday night, possibly five times around her torso, is in serious condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, a spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting at 104 Walsh Lane was reported at about 11 p.m. Friday. It started with a grudge over a puppy, according to affidavits filed Tuesday in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

William Antwon Molette, 43, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in the case. He tried to incapacitate or kill the victim, Kathy Griffin, by pointing a small, black .380 caliber Ruger LCP at Griffin and firing numerous times, until the magazine was empty, “with the sole intent of killing the victim,” according to the court affidavits, which were filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective A. Marvell Moore. The facts as alleged in the affidavits were based on witness statements and officer statements and observations, Moore said.

Griffin had life-threatening injuries because of the shooting, and she had to be airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Trauma Center in Knoxville, Moore said.

“Medical personnel observed multiple (five) defects to or about the victim’s torso that were believed to have been created by high-velocity projectiles,” Moore said.

On Tuesday, UT Medical Center spokesperson Susan Wyatt said Griffin was in serious condition. The hospital is not able to release any other information.

After the shooting on Friday night, Moore said, Molette was observed rapidly leaving the driveway at 104 Walsh Lane in a black sedan. The car accelerated away from the home and began traveling east on West Outer Drive.

Officers immediately stopped the fleeing vehicle, a black Ford Taurus registered in Alabama, at the intersection of West Outer Drive and West Wadsworth Circle, Moore said. Molette was driving the car, according to the affidavits, and officers found a .38 caliber revolver in the glove compartment in front of the passenger’s seat.

“Post Miranda, the defendant (Molette) confessed to committing the violent act,” Moore said in the affidavits. “The defendant stated the incident originated over him having to surrender his puppy. He said the victim insisted that he give the puppy up after he had grown attached to it. After relinquishing custody of the puppy, he began to hold a grudge toward the victim.

“On this day, the defendant advised he had drank (alcohol) in excess, which affected his mood. The victim asked the defendant what was wrong, and he had a drastic change in behavior. The defendant stated, ‘I unloaded on her with a little .380. If I could have found the other gun, I would have shot her with it. I couldn’t find it.’

“Said handgun was found at the scene,” Moore said.

Molette is a convicted felon and on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry, Moore said. Besides attempted first-degree murder, Molette has been charged with two counts of possessing a firearm while committing a dangerous felony, according to the Oak Ridge Police Department.

Molette remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Wednesday morning. His total bond has been set at $175,000.