911 call made in Root Beer Stand shooting released

A Williamsburg wrecker service owner is scheduled to stand trial next week for shooting and killing a Woodbine man during a July 31 incident at a Corbin drive-in restaurant.

Larry Wilson, 55, is charged with murder in the death of Tod Alan Carter, 38, who was shot to death in the parking lot of the Rootbeer Stand, and is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 13 in Whitley Circuit Court.

Wilson contends that he shot Carter in self-defense, and a copy of the call Wilson made to 911 indicates that Wilson knew Carter prior to the shooting.

Wilson’s attorney, Warren Scoville, has said that Wilson met Carter’s wife, Kristi Carter, who was a waitress at the restaurant, a few weeks prior to the shooting and that the two had a "relationship." At first Wilson didn’t know that she was married, Scoville said during a recent court hearing.

Below is a summary of the call that Wilson placed to 911 operators right after the shooting.

The call, which is slightly over two minutes long, began with Wilson telling the operator that she "better get me an officer up here at the Rootbeer Stand."

After the 911 operator asked what happened, Wilson responded, "It’s Larry Wilson, Wilson Auto Repair, sitting up here having my lunch and this boy just came over and just knocked me in the head with a tray and I shot the son of a …"

"You shot him?" the 911 operator asked?

"Yes, I shot him," Wilson replied. "It makes twice he has threatened me and I’m tired of it."

Wilson can then be heard asking the dispatcher to get police and an ambulance to the restaurant. The dispatcher told

Wilson they were on their way, and asked Wilson if he knew whom the man was that he shot.

"Yeah, he is a Carter. Tod Carter or somebody. I told him to back off and leave me alone. He hit me in the head with a mug and knocked the tray into the truck," Wilson said.

The dispatcher then asked if Carter hit Wilson with a tray.

Wilson explained that the tray was in his window, and that Carter took the mug off the tray and hit him in the eye before knocking the tray inside the truck.

"I told him just to back off and leave me alone. Then he started to come in my truck through the window and I shot him. I don’t know if he is alive or not," Wilson said.

Wilson then told the operator that Carter fell back into the parking lot and that his own eye was bleeding.

The dispatcher then asked what Wilson shot Carter with and he replied, a 9mm Luger.

"He is laying over here in the parking lot. I couldn’t tell you if he is alive or not. I don’t even know where I shot him. I can’t see my … eye is killing me," Wilson said.

The dispatcher tells Wilson that help is on its way.

"I appreciate it. He’s hurt. I’m not. You’d better send the ambulance too," Wilson told the dispatcher before the call ended.

Wilson has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is being held in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond.

Wilson faces between 20 and 50 years in prison or a life sentence if convicted of murder. The wanton endangerment charge carries a penalty up to five years in prison.