A man police say fired a shot in a Lowe’s parking lot in Elizabethton, Tennessee, over a cart of stolen goods was killed by Carter County deputies hours later, after a chase in which he reportedly shot at them.
Story Snapshot
- On Thursday, October 22, at about 8:57 p.m., police say a man fired a shot at the ground near a man who had grabbed back a cart of unpaid goods outside the Lowe’s on Patriot Drive.
- Lowe’s said the goods in the cart were worth $746.09.
- Police later found the getaway vehicle and detained three people. A fourth man drove off, and police say he was the one who fired the shot.
- Early on Friday, October 23, the driver reportedly fired at deputies during a chase. Deputies fired back, and he died at the scene on Highway 19E.
- No deputies were hurt. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the deputies’ shooting.
It Started With A Stolen Cart
Elizabethton police were called to the Lowe’s at 925 Patriot Drive at about 8:57 p.m. Thursday. A man told officers he saw two men push a shopping cart out of the store without paying. When a store worker asked to see a receipt, the two men ran. The man chased them and grabbed the cart back.
Police say one of the men then pointed a gun at him and threatened to shoot. As the man walked back toward the store, the suspect fired toward the ground. Bits of pavement struck the man’s leg. A witness told officers they saw one of the men point a handgun at the victim and fire. Officers found a shell casing and a bullet mark in the pavement.
The Chase On Highway 19E
Police sent out a BOLO, short for “be on the lookout,” an alert that tells officers across the area to watch for a certain vehicle. At about 12:30 a.m. Friday, Carter County deputies went to a home in the 200 block of Keenburg Road in Elizabethton, where they had learned the vehicle might be. Three people were detained. A fourth man stayed in the vehicle and sped away, and deputies chased him.
During the chase, the driver reportedly fired shots at deputies, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley said deputies used a PIT maneuver on the vehicle near the 6000 block of Highway 19E. A PIT maneuver is a move in which an officer’s car bumps the back corner of a fleeing car to spin it to a stop. The driver crashed there.
Deputies Fired, And The Man Died
State investigators said that after the crash, “the situation escalated, resulting in deputies firing shots, striking the man.” He was pronounced dead at the scene. Sheriff Fraley said the man exchanged gunfire with deputies. Police say the man who fired at the Lowe’s was the same man who led deputies on the chase. Officials have not released his name.
All lanes of Highway 19E were closed near Tiger Creek Road for hours Friday morning while agents worked the scene. The road reopened at about 7:15 a.m.
Who Reviews The Shooting
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the deputies’ shooting at the request of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney, the elected prosecutor for the area. The bureau is the state’s independent fact-finding agency and handles most police use-of-force cases in Tennessee. It will give its findings to Finney, who will decide whether the deputies’ actions were justified. The bureau does not name officers involved in shootings.
Under a 1985 Supreme Court ruling, officers may use deadly force on a fleeing suspect only when they have good reason to believe he poses a serious threat of death or injury to them or others. Finney will weigh the deputies’ actions against that standard.
What Comes Next
Police have not said what charges the three detained men may face. The state review of the deputies’ shooting is still under way. For the man outside the Lowe’s, a fight over a $746 cart of goods ended with a bullet striking the pavement near him. For the man police say fired that shot, it ended on Highway 19E.
Sources:
wcyb.com, tbinewsroom.com, wcyb.com, supertalk929.com