KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The TBI is proceeding with an "active and ongoing" investigation into what led a Knox County deputy to fire his weapon at two people in a vehicle, wounding one.
TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart said once the review is done, it'll be turned over to Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen.
"She would be the one to determine whether the officer's actions were justified," Earhart told WBIR.
Sean McDermott, the assistant DA and spokesman for Allen, said such investigations can take weeks and consist of numerous consultations and submissions of evidence and reports over time.
It's not something that can be wrapped up quickly and definitively because there's typically ongoing discussion about what the TBI finds and what lingering questions there may be about the shooting circumstances, he said.
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Allen asked the TBI to look at what happened after the unnamed deputy fired shots the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 16.
KCSO deputies responded that day to "a report of suspicious activity in the area of Lexington Drive," TBI said in a release last week. It's an industrial area in far West Knox County north of Interstate 40.
According to KCSO, two people were sleeping in a vehicle there.
According to the TBI: "Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a man and woman. At some point during the interaction, and for reasons still under investigation, one deputy fired a shot, striking the man. The male and female fled the scene in a vehicle before crashing at the intersection of Simmons Road and Lexington Drive. Both individuals ran from the vehicle, but deputies quickly apprehended them."
Names of those involved have not been released.
After the shooting, the man was treated at an area hospital. The woman also was taken to a hospital for treatment. No deputy was wounded.
TBI agents, who investigate shootings involving law officers across the state, gather all the facts but they don't determine right or wrong.
Because no one died in this case, the TBI's file won't become a public record, Earhart said.
Kimberly Glenn, the spokeswoman for Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler, said the deputy is on leave with pay until the investigation is completed.
Whether KCSO looks at the shooting depends on what the TBI investigation shows, she said.
"We only do our own internal investigation if the investigation done by the TBI shows there was a policy violation," she said.
Once agents finish their review and Allen decides whether the shooting was handled properly, "we will know more," Glenn said.
Deputies involved in the incident are getting counsel, which is typical in such use-of-force incidents.