Randy Howard, a country music singer who has performed with the likes of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Charlie Daniels, died Tuesday night at the age of 65. Bizarrely, his death seems to be the result of a shootout with a bounty hunter who had arrived at his home to serve him with a warrant. According to local Nashville NBC News affiliate WSMV, Howard was facing charges in Marion County for “fourth offense DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a gun while intoxicated and driving on a revoked license.”
After failing to show up in court at the appointed time to contest the DUI charge, a bounty hunter named Jackie Shell was dispatched to Howard’s residence to serve the warrant. Shell claims that Howard fired the first shots, but both men were hit, and Howard died from wounds sustained during the shootout. There is no word yet on the legal ramifications of the incident, but it’s apparently not the first time in the past year that local bounty hunters have been involved in such altercations.