In the predawn hours of a Tuesday in Atmore, Alabama, Roderick Lynn 'Thumper' Watkins, Jr., a 23-year-old man, was fatally shot in what police described as an ambush. The incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. on September 24, 2019, on Jimbos Road. Watkins had just returned home from his job as a machine operator at Swift Lumber Co. and was planning to change into his gym clothes for a workout.
As he arrived at his residence, a lone gunman who had been lying in wait opened fire on his Nissan Altima.
Responding officers discovered Watkins lying beside his car with several bullet shell casings scattered nearby. The back passenger window of his vehicle was shattered by the gunfire. The investigation pointed to a targeted attack, and authorities quickly identified a person of interest. Watkins' mother, Debra Brooks, reported being awakened by neighborhood dogs barking shortly after midnight and then, about two hours later, by the sound of seven to ten gunshots. She told investigators that she saw the shooter hiding in the bushes near her son's car and that he fled after she came outside. She found her son on the ground next to his car with the engine still running. While police did not immediately release a motive, Watkins' mother stated she believed the shooting was 'all over a girl.'
Less than a week after the shooting, on September 30, 2019, authorities made an arrest in the case. Anthony Jerome English, a 23-year-old from Atmore, was taken into custody in Monroeville, Alabama. He was subsequently charged with the murder of Roderick Watkins, Jr. and was transferred to the Escambia County Detention Center to await a bond hearing. Police believed English acted as the lone gunman in the ambush. Watkins was a 2015 graduate of Escambia County High School and was remembered by his family and friends.
