"A girlfriend told me about it this morning and I said, 'You're kidding? Not Toby,' Etherington, who lives in Hustonville said Friday. "Toby was always sweet, kind, humorous. He was laid back, a regular guy. He was our buddy. That he would even be handling a gun just blows my mind.
"But I hadn't seen him since high school."
Gutierrez said the shooting happened Thursday afternoon in the bookstore parking lot.
Men obviously knew each other
Witnesses told police they could tell by their interaction with one another that the men knew each other.
Police wouldn't comment further on what may have led to the shooting.
Gutierrez said after police arrived, the suspect fled in his car to the parking lot of a mental health facility. He was holding a gun to his head inside the vehicle while talking with police negotiators on a cell phone, Gutierrez said.
"Our negotiators were talking with him this entire time, trying to come up with a safe outcome," Gutierrez said. "Such a tragic day already, we're just happy it ended the way it did."
Gutierrez said a chase ensued after an officer tried to pull over Lasure's vehicle, and Lasure sped away. He collided with another vehicle before the standoff and will face multiple traffic charges besides to the murder charge, she said.
The mental health facility, called The Ridge Hospital, was on lockdown most of the afternoon and more than a dozen police cars created a perimeter around the area, which is near a movie theater, grocery store and restaurants. Gutierrez said she didn't know if Lasure had any connection with the facility.
See Sunday's Advocate for more details. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
