A 24-year-old man was booked Sunday, April 26, after a fatal shooting outside Dolly Parton’s Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Police said Evan Cogdill accidentally discharged a firearm while he and Jacob Inselman were sitting in a car together outside the venue.
Inselman, 22, was taken to LeConte Medical Center and pronounced dead. The Pigeon Forge Police Department said the shooting happened around 7:35 p.m. as the first show at the dinner attraction was finishing up.
Cogdill was charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office. Both men were from Illinois. Police told Rolling Stone the investigation is active.
The shooting unfolded at a place better known for family outings than police tape. Dolly Parton’s Stampede is one of the signature attractions in Pigeon Forge, alongside Dollywood, and it also has a location in Branson, Missouri. The venue serves a four-course meal with musical performances, horseback routines and other entertainment.
For the people who were there, the day ended with one man dead and another facing a homicide charge. The question now is not what kind of venue Dolly Parton’s Stampede is, but how a handgun in a parked car turned a busy evening into a crime scene.