A Tennessee nurse practitioner fatally shot her two young children and her 88-year-old grandmother before taking her own life, Humphreys County authorities reported. The bodies were found Friday morning during a welfare check at a home in Waverly. Sheriff's Office deputies found the four people with gunshot wounds. The victims were identified as 4-year-old Arius Thompson, 13-year-old Isaiah Johnson, 88-year-old Evelyn Johnson, and 32-year-old Heather Thompson. Investigation rules out third-party involvement. Sheriff Chris Davis reported that there were no signs of forced entry at the home and that investigators believe no other individuals were involved. Evelyn Johnson was Heather Thompson's grandmother, the official stated. Davis also indicated that there were no prior reports of domestic violence or mental health issues at the residence. The possible motive for the crime has not been revealed while the investigation continues, with support from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Visibly shaken, the sheriff told local media that he knew the family personally. "It's a small American town. We know our families. We're going to do right by them, we're going to respect them, and we're going to get them justice," she said.

Author Profile and Family Reaction

Heather Thompson was a nurse practitioner with a master's degree from Walden University and worked at Ascension Saint Thomas Three Rivers Hospital in Waverly, according to public records. She also ran a local wellness clinic.

According to The Nashville Tennessean, Thompson was estranged from the father of her children, Jeremiah Thompson, at the time of the incident. The man, a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, expressed his grief on social media and referred to the children as “just babies.” Jeremiah Thompson started a GoFundMe campaign to transport the children's bodies to New Mexico. As of Sunday morning, the campaign had raised nearly $11,000, more than two-thirds of the goal. A community marked by tragedy has once again struck the small community of Waverly, which has faced difficult times in recent years. The family's home is located on East Little Richland Road,a rural area affected by the devastating flash flood of August 2021, which left 20 dead and destroyed much of the town. More recently, the county was hit again by the explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant, near the border between Humphreys and Hickman counties, which killed 16 people—one of the worst industrial accidents in the state's history.