Court docs: Man charged with murder, assault in Battle Creek shooting

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A man was charged with murder and assault for a shooting that left a man dead and a woman in the hospital Tuesday, court documents say.

Thomas Knickerbocker, 43, of Battle Creek, was charged with open murder, assault with intent to murder, weapons charges and being a habitual fourth violent offender.

The charges stem from Tuesday, when police were called to a home on Spencer Street near Michigan Avenue around 3 a.m. and found 47-year-old Clayton Holt and a 34-year-old Battle Creek woman shot. Holt died at the scene, according to police.

1 dead, 1 hospitalized after Battle Creek shooting

The woman was taken to the hospital and her condition was stable as of Thursday, police said. When officers arrived, she was conscious and told them Knickerbocker was the one who shot them, according to a probable cause document.

A witness told police he could hear Knickerbocker yelling moments before he heard eight to nine shots fired, the document said.

Police set up a perimeter and found Knickerbocker a few blocks away. Knickerbocker told officers he left a strip club at 2 a.m. and made one stop before arriving at the home on Spencer Street to buy methamphetamine. Police say Knickerbocker claimed he spoke to Holt inside the back entry and then left.

Knickerbocker was denied bond prohibited from having contact with the woman. A preliminary exam conference is scheduled for April 26.

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