KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In the 1990s through the early 2000s, Tim Hutchison sat at the same desk that Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler sits at now. Hutchison oversaw the Knox County Sheriff's Office and he said calls about a deputy injured in the line of duty were the worst to answer.
"The first thought as sheriff, when he gets a phone call and an officer is shot, 'Who is it? Where is it? I'm en route.' And on the way, you're just praying that they're going to survive," said Hutchison. "In a case of an ambush, it's usually just a split-second action. You know, the officer has to react and the second officer obviously reacted and took care of the situation."
While he was sheriff, three deputies were fatally wounded in the line of duty. Officer Angela Payne was responding to a shooting in northwest Knox County when she was hit by a motorist as she confronted a suspect in February 2000.
Chief Keith Lyon was killed in May 2006 in a car crash on Schaad Road, when another car crossed the center line and hit his department SUV head-on. Lieutenant Steve McCulley died in February 1999 when his police cruiser was hit by a train.
Deputy Tucker Blakely was responding to a call about a domestic situation Sunday night when he was fatally shot. The gunman was also killed.
"You just never know what's going to happen in those kinds of calls. And so, yes, it does accelerate, you know, everything. You know, and so it gets the adrenaline going immediately," said Hutchison. "You know, when you lose a fellow officer, it's a loss. And it's a reminder of how dangerous the job is."
He said every time law enforcement responds to a call, they take a risk. It takes seconds for a call to turn deadly and for a deputy's life to be put on the line.
"You just never know what's going to happen in those kind of calls," Hutchison said. "In a case of an ambush, it's usually just a split-second action. You know, an officer has to react and the second officer obviously reacted and took care of the situation."
Funeral details have not been released for Blakely. Leaders, organizations and communities across East Tennessee have voiced support for KCSO and his family. He leaves behind a 5-year-old child and his wife.