NATION : Tenn. Official Linked to Bingo Probe Fails in Suicide Attempt

LEBANON, Tenn. — Tennessee Secretary of State Gentry Crowell, whose office is at the center of a charity bingo scandal, shot himself in the mouth today in a suicide attempt, authorities said.

Crowell, 57, was in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he was taken for surgery to remove a bullet in his brain.

Medical Service Capt. Mike Johnson said Crowell was found on his front porch by his son; a .38-caliber pistol was nearby.

The Internal Revenue Service, FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in 1986 began an investigation of alleged bribery and skimming of profits because of reports that bingo operators were paying state officials to ignore violations of laws regulating the industry.

Crowell has testified twice before federal grand juries investigating alleged bingo corruption. He has not been implicated in the scandal.