A suspect has been charged in the fatal shooting of a man in the parking lot at Dolly Parton’s Stampede, a dinner attraction located in the tourist town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Evan Cogdill, 24, is charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office. Cogdill was booked on Sunday, April 26, the day after he allegedly shot 22-year-old Jacob Inselmann, who was from Steeleville, Illinois. Cogdill is from Marissa, lllinois.
The Pigeon Forge Police Department reports that Cogdill and Inselmann were in the car together outside the Stampede venue when Cogdill’s firearm discharged and struck Inselmann, who was later pronounced dead at LeConte Medical Center. The incident occurred around 7:35 p.m., after which Cogdill contacted the police. An active investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Representatives for Parton did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
The Stampede operates locations in both Pigeon Forge — also home to Dollywood, which features a collection of 50 rides and attractions — and Branson, Missouri. The family-oriented attraction combines four-course southern meals with action in the form of musical performances, horseback theatrics, acrobatics, and more. The Pigeon Forge location opened in 1988 under the name Dixie Stampede. It was renamed in 2018.
“When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it ‘The Stampede,'” Parton told Billboard in 2020 about the racist connotations of the word “Dixie” and its association with the Confederacy. “As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumbass. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”
