After shooting each other during a heated argument, a retired Olympic relay runner, 62, and his friend, 60, both died.

According to police reports, a 62-year-old retired Olympic relay runner and his 60-year-old friend both died on Sunday, November 28 after pulling out guns and shooting each other during a heated argument.

According to police, Emmit King, a former University of Alabama track athlete and two-time member of the American Olympic Relay Team, was having an argument with his friend Willie Albert Wells outside a home in Bessemer, Alabama, when it ended in gunfire.

After shooting each other during a heated argument, a retired Olympic relay runner, 62, and his friend, 60, both died.

It’s unclear what the two men were arguing about or who was the first to fire their weapon. According to police, the shots were fired around 3.40 p.m. on the 800 block of 22nd Street North.

At 3.59 p.m., Wells was pronounced dead at the scene, while King was transported to UAB Medical West Hospital and pronounced dead at 4.40 p.m.

After shooting each other during a heated argument, a retired Olympic relay runner, 62, and his friend, 60, both died.

 

Although he did not compete in any Olympic events, King was a sprinter and a member of the United States relay team for the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1988.

According to police, the deaths of King and Wells are the 26th and 27th homicides in Bessemer this year, respectively, compared to 18 homicides in all of 2020. So far in 2021, there have been 185 homicides in Jefferson County, surpassing the previous year’s total of 183.