I don't want anything to do with you!" Davis took in his hand a registration card and, while he confronted Nelson, took his anger out on the card, first by gripping it and then wadding it up into a small ball, which he took and flipped into Nelson's face, the way that a child would flip a marble. Nelson stepped forward and slapped Davis with the back of his hand in the face. Nelson then looked at the governor and asked, "Did you come here, sir, to see me insulted?" Morton said, "No sir." Then, Nelson turned and left for his room. That set events in motion. Davis asked a friend from the Mexican–American War if he had a pistol, which he did not. He then asked another friend, Thomas W. Gibson, from whom he got a pistol. Immediately, Davis went down the corridor towards Nelson's office, where he was now standing. He aimed the pistol at Nelson and fired. The bullet hit Nelson in the chest and tore a small hole in the heart, mortally wounding the large man. Nelson still had the strength to make his way to the hotel stairs and climb a floor before he collapsed. By then, a crowd started to gather around him and carried Nelson to a nearby room, laying him on the floor. The hotel proprietor, Silas F. Miller, came rushing into the room to find Nelson lying on the floor. Nelson asked of Miller, "Send for a clergyman; I wish to be baptized. I have been basely murdered." Reverend J. Talbot was called, who responded, as well as a doctor. Several people came to see Nelson, including Reverend Talbot, Surgeon Murry, General Crittenden, and General Fry. The shooting had occurred at 8:00 a.m., and by 8:30 a.m., he was dead. Davis did not leave the vicinity of Nelson. He did not run or evade capture. He was simply taken into military custody by Fry and confined to an upper room in the Galt House. Davis attested to Fry what had happened. Fry wrote that while Davis was improperly treated for a man of his rank, Davis never pursued any legal recourse, which was available to him. Fry attested that Davis was quite forthcoming and even included the fact that it was he who flipped a paper wad in Nelson's face. Davis wanted to confront Nelson publicly and wanted Nelson's disrespect witnessed.