On the afternoon of October 16, 1981, a shooting at the Mountain Auto-Truck Parts Store in Allen, Kentucky, left five men dead. Rufus Hamilton, 42, was one of the victims. The others killed were Jarvey Hamilton, 28, Michael Joe Halbert, 28, Roger Hatfield, 34, and 28-year-old Roger Click.

Authorities identified the shooter as 70-year-old retired miner William O. Bevins. Eyewitnesses reported an argument between Bevins and Roger Click shortly before the shooting; that dispute is believed to have precipitated the attack. Bevins was arrested at his home in the nearby community of Printer without resistance. He initially pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea to guilty during early trial testimony and was sentenced to death. A later U.S. Supreme Court ruling resulted in his death sentence being commuted to life; he died in prison.