KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — A man shot and killed himself after the Knox County Sheriff's Office said it and several other agencies chased him across multiple counties after an overdose death investigation.
According to KCSO, a Knox County Airwatch helicopter joined Anderson and Loudon County deputies as well as Oak Ridge police in chasing the man after he pulled a gun on officers during a traffic stop on Thursday.
KCSO has not identified the man.
Deputies said the chase began after its Narcotics Unit tried to pull over a man suspected in an overdose death in the area of Western Avenue. They said the man briefly pulled a gun on officers before driving away.
Narcotics officers and others chased the man on Oak Ridge Highway before he went back into Knox County and eventually into Loudon County near the Eaton community. KCSO's Airwatch helicopter could be seen circling around a section of Highway 321 near Eaton Elementary School and North Middle School.
KCSO said the man crashed into a ditch and pointed the gun to his head as officers surrounded him. KCSO said deputies were trying to make contact with him and negotiate.
According to the Loudon County Sheriff's Office, a Blount County Sheriff's Office SWAT team assisting at the scene used "less lethal rounds" into the vehicle to try and get the man to drop his weapon. LCSO said the man shot himself and was taken to Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City.
According to Ninth District Attorney General Russell Johnson, the man died on the way to the hospital. He said the man was not moving after SWAT officers shot at his vehicle, saying they found him with a handgun in his lap.
EMS was called to try and save the man. He was pronounced dead at 1:58 p.m.
"Because of the multiple law enforcement agencies involved from three counties and the fact that the subject was technically ‘in custody’ at the time of his apparent suicide, the TBI was ‘predicated’ to handle the investigation. An autopsy will be performed at the Knox County Forensics Center and any official cause of death will be determined after a review of the autopsy and the TBI investigation," Johnson said.
As of 1:45 p.m., the principal of North Middle School said they were made aware of police activity in the area and took extra precautions, but were not on an active lockdown.
According to KCSO, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation at this point. The TBI called it a "use of force incident," saying its agents responded to the area of Highway 321 and Parkway Drive in Loudon County around 1 p.m.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information is available.