A man drowned after a highway pursuit and gunfight with Chester County and other law enforcement entities, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
“Preliminary information indicates the incident originated in Chester County near Henderson when a Chester County Deputy initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle driving recklessly at approximately 9:15 a.m.,” according to a TBI release. “The driver refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued. During the pursuit, the driver briefly stopped and presented a weapon, pointing it at deputies, and causing the deputies to fire their service weapons.”
But the chase continued.
The driver reportedly kept driving and fired shots from his vehicle at police along the way. The pursuit continued through McNairy County and then Hardin County, with several law enforcement officers from different counties giving chase.
About an hour after the chase began, the suspect drove his car off a boat ramp in Hardin County.
Still, he was unwilling to surrender and reportedly kept pointing his weapon at police, ignoring their commands while his car sank into the Tennessee River.
TBI says his body was recovered hours later and that no officers were injured. The man’s body was taken to Nashville for an autopsy.
It is standard for TBI to investigate all officer-involved shootings.
TBI does not comment on ongoing investigations.
Earlier this month, TBI opened an investigation into another officer-involved shooting in Hardin County.
“Preliminary information indicates that deputies encountered an Alabama robbery suspect, later identified as Jonathan Schutte, in a parking lot … in Savannah,” TBI said in an August 5 release. “When [Hardin County] deputies approached the vehicle, Schutte reportedly exited his vehicle and fired his weapon at deputies, resulting in the deputies returning fire, hitting and killing 33-year-old Schutte. No law enforcement officers were hurt in the incident.”
This is the 34th officer-involved shooting this year, TBI reports.
At the current pace, and with four full months left in 2o24, Tennessee appears poised to eclipse the total number of officer-involved shootings in 2023 and 2022, which respectively numbered 50.
In 2021, there were 55 officer-involved shootings, the most of any of the years TBI has collected the information.
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Peter D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Peter on Twitter/X.
Photo “Crime Scene Tape” by Tony Webster. CC BY-SA 4.0.
