A man charged with murder in the Saturday night shooting on Dripping Springs Road had approached the victim at his home hours before the fatal incident occurred.

Cullman police officers were called to the residence around 3 p.m. because Charles Patrick Wayne Burgess, 28, had come to the door of Thomas “Tommy” L. Piper, 49, and was carrying a pistol.

Police arrived and talked to Piper and disarmed him and sent him away, said Police Chief Kenny Culpepper.

“He was legal, open-carrying a firearm,” Culpepper said. “The officers didn’t have any legal reason to arrest him. He’s not required to have a permit under open-carry.”

But just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police again arrived at the residence on a welfare check and found Piper dead from a gunshot or shots. Burgess was arrested a few hours later and charged with murder.

Police are investigating the background of Burgess, who remains incarcerated at the Cullman County Detention Center.

Burgess was arrested by Cullman County Sheriff’s deputies in October 2018 on a criminal trespassing charge. He also faced a failure to appear charge this year from that case. His only encounter with Cullman police prior to Saturday was a traffic stop.