Dispatchers tried to keep a 27-year-old man talking after he reported killing his father and expressed thoughts of suicide, authorities said.
SEMAN, Ala. — Elmore County dispatchers tried to keep a 27-year-old man on the telephone after he told 911 that he had killed his father and spoke about suicide, a call Sheriff Bill Franklin described as traumatic for those who handled it.
The emergency call early Friday, Nov. 6, led deputies to a home on Tower Hill Road in the rural Seman community, where they found Lance Shaner and his father, 81-year-old Bill Shaner, dead. Investigators believe the elder Shaner had been fatally shot hours earlier and that his son died by suicide shortly after his conversation with emergency dispatchers ended.
Franklin praised the response of the dispatchers who spoke with Lance Shaner as deputies headed toward the property. “I think dispatch did an excellent job trying to talk to him,” Franklin said. The sheriff said handling a call involving an admitted killing and a person threatening suicide can be traumatic for emergency personnel.
Deputies reached the residence around 6:30 a.m. after contact with the caller was lost. Investigators found Lance Shaner dead inside the home and Bill Shaner in a laundry and storage area toward the rear of the residence. Authorities said the father had been shot at least twice. Investigators believe the same handgun was involved in both deaths.
Authorities believe Bill Shaner was shot between 9 and 10 p.m. the previous evening. Franklin later said Lance Shaner went to a casino after his father was killed and eventually returned to the residence. Officials have not established publicly why he made the trip or whether it had any significance to the shooting.
Investigators also learned of disagreements between the men in the days before their deaths. Franklin said people interviewed by authorities described arguments involving things Lance Shaner wanted and where he wanted to go. The sheriff offered no evidence that investigators had determined those disputes were the motive for the killing, and no definitive motive has been released.
Franklin described Bill Shaner as a longtime fixture in the Seman community. “You just have to know Bill, no-nonsense guy,” the sheriff said. Shaner had lived in the area throughout his life, according to investigators, and worked on boats that remained at his rural property after his death.
The sheriff also used the case to discuss the volume of domestic violence calls handled in Elmore County. Franklin said the county records roughly 300 to 500 domestic violence arrests in a year. He did not announce a previous domestic violence charge involving the Shaners or say the shooting had resulted from a documented earlier case between the two men.
Both bodies were sent for forensic examination as investigators worked to confirm the sequence of events. Authorities have said Bill Shaner remained alive for some period after being shot, but emergency help was not requested for him before his death. The sheriff’s office has not released additional forensic findings or a final investigative report.
The deaths remain under investigation as an apparent murder-suicide. Authorities have not identified another suspect and have not announced evidence establishing a specific motive. The 911 call, the reported disputes and Lance Shaner’s movements after his father was shot remain central to investigators’ reconstruction of the case.
Author note: Last updated November 12, 2026.