In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 20, 2025, a dispute that began in a local Athens, Tennessee, bar escalated into a fatal encounter in the parking lot, leaving 55-year-old Randy Croft, a male, shot and killed. The night took a dark turn when William Charles Thomas Sullivan, 24, was reportedly ejected from the Double CC Bar & Grill after making threats with a knife.
Though initially the situation seemed resolved, the sense of peace was shattered a short time later.
Not long after being forced to leave, Sullivan allegedly returned to the premises. He was seen in the parking lot, where he is said to have fired shots at other patrons of the bar. Hearing the commotion, Randy Croft, the owner of the establishment, went outside to investigate and confront the disturbance. It was during this confrontation that Croft was fatally shot. According to his wife, Stephanie, her husband was not a threat and was shot multiple times for no reason in what she described as a 'plain cold murder.' One witness hailed Croft as a hero, stating that he kept the shooter away from other patrons, potentially preventing further casualties.
Following the shooting, the suspect, William Charles Thomas Sullivan, is said to have stolen Croft's truck and fled the scene. A pursuit involving multiple law enforcement agencies, including the McMinn County Sheriff's Office, the Athens Police Department, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, ensued. The chase crossed into a neighboring county where Sullivan was ultimately apprehended. He was subsequently taken into custody and is being held in the McMinn County Jail on a murder charge, with the possibility of additional charges pending the ongoing investigation.
In his statement to investigators, Sullivan reportedly offered a conflicting and unusual account of the events. He claimed that after being banned from the bar, he returned with a handgun and, while walking near a wood line, 'fell' into a ditch, causing the gun to 'accidentally' discharge multiple times. He further alleged that after someone threw a beer bottle at him, his gun went off again. Sullivan then stated that when Croft confronted him, he saw that Croft had a small handgun, and his 'training kicked in,' leading him to shoot Croft in what he described as self-defense. He admitted to firing his weapon until it was empty, reloading, and firing more rounds. Authorities stated that after shooting Croft, Sullivan took the victim's gun from the scene and discarded it from the window of the stolen truck during the police chase.
