(JACKSON, TN-) Mayor Jerry Gist, states, “The Jackson Police Department responded today to a 911 dispatch call initially alleged as a robbery in progress. Upon arrival, officers entered the interior to find two victims from apparent gunshot wounds. Officers determined the call was not a robbery but a workplace domestic violence incident. This is a tragic day. Domestic violence affects the individuals and the community-at-large. Our sympathy and prayers are extended to the families of the deceased and the employees at The Bank of Jackson. ”
Chief Julian Wiser states, “In the face of this tragedy, the Jackson Police contained the incident, secured the neighborhood, and quickly determined the true nature of the incident. The Chaplain’s Unit of the Jackson Police Department and community counselors were on site and will continue to be available to provide comfort and counseling through this time of grieving and tragedy.”
City of Jackson Police were dispatched at 9:38 a.m. today to The Bank of Jackson at 132 West University Parkway, where Virginia Dorris, age 53, was found deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. Also, a male subject identified as David Laster, age 52, was transported from The Bank of Jackson, 132 West University Parkway, to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries sustained from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot. At 10:35 a.m., the local hospital personnel pronounced David Laster deceased.
Harbert Alexander, Jr., President of the Bank of Jackson, states, “We are deeply saddened by a domestic violence circumstance that has caused us to suffer the loss of our friend and colleague. The employees of The Bank of Jackson appreciate the support of the Jackson Police Department and the community within the City of Jackson.”
Through investigation, the male victim was identified as the suspect in this apparent murder-suicide case. It has been determined there was a history of domestic violence between Virginia Dorris and David Laster. David Laster was arrested for domestic violence on September 29, 2014, and Virginia Dorris was the victim of the assault. A no-contact order was issued between the parties. The case was dismissed in February 2015.
The Mayor’s Advisory Council on Sexual and Domestic Violence was established bringing individuals and organizations with resources that will systematically affect our efforts to hold abusers criminally responsible and empower victims to break the economic and emotional bonds holding many them in domestic violence relationships.
