Tennessee Prosecutors Clear Man With Prosthetic Leg in Vape Shop Shooting
First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney will not charge Kevin Nottingham, a 59-year-old man who shot and killed 24-year-old Dalton Spaulding outside the A1 Smoke and Vape Shop on Roy Martin Road in Gray. The August 14 shooting ended with four rounds from a .38-caliber revolver. Finney ruled the shooting self-defense after reviewing surveillance video and witness statements. He found that Spaulding started the physical fight and kept attacking after Nottingham hit the ground. WJHL News Channel 11 obtained the footage through a public-records request and aired it.
Key Details
The facts that drove the decision break down this way:
- Date and location: August 14, outside the A1 Smoke and Vape Shop on Roy Martin Road in Gray, Tennessee.
- Victim: Dalton Spaulding, 24, died at the scene.
- Shooter: Kevin Nottingham, 59, who wears a prosthetic leg.
- Trigger for the argument: Spaulding accused Nottingham of looking disrespectfully at Spaulding's grandfather, who waited outside.
- The takedown: Spaulding grabbed Nottingham at the doorway and threw him to the ground. The prosthetic leg came off during the fall.
- The shots: Nottingham fired four rounds from a .38-caliber revolver. Three hit Spaulding in the chest and arm.
- Nottingham's account: He told investigators he warned Spaulding about his one leg and his age. In a written statement, he said he was in pain, still under attack, and out of options.
- Charging decision: Prosecutors found that Spaulding initiated the violence and continued it on the ground. No charges will be filed.
Attorney Gene Scott, a local criminal defense lawyer, reviewed the footage for WJHL. Scott said both men had a lawful right to be inside the business. He pointed to the sequence that mattered most: Nottingham did not fire until he had been grabbed, thrown down, and left without his leg while the attack continued.
Background
Early reports framed this as an argument over a parking spot. The completed investigation told a different story. It began as a confrontation over a look and escalated fast, and the video and witness statements backed Nottingham's version of who escalated it.
Tennessee's justified-force statutes allow a person to use deadly force when facing an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. The law also bars the defense for anyone who provoked the fight or started the violence. Prosecutors had to answer two questions: who was the primary aggressor, and was the threat still happening when the shots were fired. The footage answered both in Nottingham's favor.
The case also sits inside the larger framework set by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). That ruling struck down New York's discretionary carry licensing regime and told courts to test gun regulations against the nation's historical tradition. Bruen addressed public carry rights. It did not rewrite state self-defense law, which still decides whether a particular shooting was justified.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Every armed citizen in Tennessee should read this case closely, but the lessons apply anywhere. Most shootings that end in prosecution do not come down to whether the gun was legal. They come down to who started the fight and whether the threat was still live.
Start with escalation. Nottingham stayed in a bad spot because Spaulding made a verbal dispute physical. Your job at that moment is to create distance, not to win the argument. If someone grabs you and throws you down, you have a strong self-defense claim only if you can show that the attack was ongoing and that you had no reasonable alternative.
Next, document. Surveillance video decided this case. Many businesses keep footage for limited periods, so know how to request it quickly. If you carry, know your state's justified-force statute and the duty-to-retreat rules where you live. Tennessee does not require retreat when you are lawfully present, but other states do.
Finally, call a lawyer before you say anything beyond your immediate safety. Nottingham gave a statement. That statement matched the video, which helped him. Your statement could go the other way if the facts are not on your side.
DownRange Analysis
This was a good charging decision, and the footage is why. A one-legged senior citizen in his fifties gets thrown to the pavement by a younger man who keeps attacking. That is not a close call under any reasonable reading of self-defense law. The prosecutor did the job right by watching the full video before deciding.
Does it survive Bruen? The question barely arises. Bruen protects the right to carry. It does not dictate the outcome of a specific shooting. Those cases still run through state justified-force law, which is exactly how this one was resolved.
The market takeaway is simple. Nobody buys a revolver to win a parking-lot argument. Carry is for the moment when you have no other option. If you carry, train with the gun you carry, and practice the decisions that come before the trigger pull, not just the draw.
What should you do right now? Review your state's self-defense statute this week. Confirm where your carry rights stop. And if you ever end up in a shooting, the video and the first 24 hours matter more than your gear.
