Published: June 18, 2009 08:25 am      

Victim of Tuesday’s shooting identified

By Ivy Brashear / Staff Writer

A Corbin man who was shot Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Jason Paul Lovitt, Whitley County Detective Chuck Davis said.

Lovitt, 31, remains in critical condition in the surgical critical care unit at University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he has had surgery and remains in and out of consciousness, Davis said.

At 3:37 p.m. on Tuesday, Whitley County dispatch received a call about the shooting, which took place outside Lovitt’s apartment at 493 Highway 90, on the way to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Lovitt lived in a former gas station and store converted into an apartment

Whitley County EMS responded to the call and transported Lovitt, who had been shot in the chest, to the Williamsburg-Whitley County Regional Airport, where he was then air-lifted by helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Davis said he has yet to interview witnesses who are both local and out-of-state.

“The witnesses didn’t see anything happen, but they administered first aid and helped the victim (before EMS arrived),” Davis said.

Davis said that many of the officers from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Office were at the scene, along with Sheriff Lawrence Hodge and the Kentucky State Police.

Evidence was found at the scene and collected, Davis said. Davis has been unable to talk with Lovitt about the incident because of Lovitt’s medical state.

No suspect has been named as the shooter, and the case is still under investigation.