BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — On Friday, the Blount County Sheriff's Office released body camera and dashcam video showing the moments leading up to when Greg McCowan, a deputy, was fatally shot.
In the video, Shelby Eggers, another Blount County deputy, pulls a car over after seeing it cross over the double-yellow line several times. The car turns back into its lane as cars in the opposite lane approach. When Eggers turns on her cruiser's siren, the car stops in the road, blocking it.
"As anyone that watches the video can see, the subject was left-of-center for quite a period of time," said Kevin Davis, a law enforcement expert who watched the video.
She then approaches the car and asks the driver, Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr., to pull into a nearby driveway. He pulls to the side of the road before Eggers approaches him again, asking him to pull into the driveway again. DeHart Jr. turns into the driveway and Eggers approaches him, both cars now off the road.
She tells him that he was "all over the road," and DeHart Jr. said he was pulling his hair up. He said he was driving back home after attending a high school sports game for his son, and later told Eggers he was in his grandmother's car after leaving his truck at home.
He gives Eggers a document when she asks for the vehicle's registration, and she walks back to her cruiser as he searches for documents about the car's insurance. Back at the cruiser, she calls McCowan about the traffic stop.
"So, the car smells like weed and he was in the opposite lane on Sevierville Road. Pretty sure I got a DUI, but I think it's weed. I don't think it's alcohol," she said during the phone call.
McCowan said he was on his way to Eggers and she got back out of the cruiser, approaching DeHart Jr. He tells Eggers he has several car insurance cards, but several are expired, and a person is heard speaking on his phone. He tells Eggers that it's his grandmother, and Eggers starts speaking with her before addressing DeHart Jr. again.
She tells DeHart Jr. that no insurance information was returned when she ran the license plate.
"I am going to have you step out, and hang out with me. I smell weed in the car, have you ever smoked weed in the car?" Eggers said in the video.
DeHart Jr. denies smoking weed and said there isn't any in the car. After his grandmother asks about the situation, he denies smoking weed to her as well.
"It's me, mamaw. I'm Black, and they're just being messy," he said in the video.
"It ain't nothing like that, brother," Eggers said in the video.
Davis said Eggers had probable cause to search the video due to the vehicle swerving as well as the odor.
"What she's trying to do is investigate further to establish the elements of the crime, to make a DUI arrest or some other type of violation. Now, she's within her rights to ask the subject to get out of the vehicle. That's a standard in law," said Davis.
In the video, DeHart Jr. asks deputies to bring a K-9 Unit to the car, but Eggers said they "don't hit on weed" and "there's no dog coming out here." She tells him her partner is heading to the traffic stop.
"I'm refusing the search," DeHart Jr. said on the video.
"There's no refusing ... I've got probable cause to search the vehicle because of the smell," Eggers said. "I'm not trying to be messy with you, brother. I'm trying to make this easy."
He continues refusing to exit the vehicle and asking for a K-9 Unit when McCowan arrives at the traffic stop. He immediately tells DeHart Jr. to get out of the car upon arriving.
"Here, it's multiple times where they give him, you know, loud, repetitive, verbal commands to get out of the car. He chooses not to," said Davis.
The deputies say they will pull him out of the car, and one opens the driver-side door as the window rolls up. DeHart Jr. immediately pulls it back closed, before deputies pull it open again. Eggers then starts struggling to pull DeHart Jr. out of the car, while McCowan pulls out a Taser.
"I'm not doing nothing wrong. Why are you doing this to me, man?" DeHart Jr. said in the video.
"Get out of car, Kenny. Go ahead, hit him," she said to McCowan.
He fires the Taser and demands he get out of the car. He seems unaffected until it's fired again, as the door closes. DeHart then starts screaming. The door opens again, and McCowan tells DeHart Jr. he may activate the Taser again. Meanwhile, DeHart Jr. is screaming, "Please, I didn't do nothing."
The Taser is activated again and McCowan slams the door closed before walking around closer to the front of the car, telling DeHart Jr. to get out of the car.
"The use of an intermediate weapon like the Taser, it seems appropriate at this point when they try physically to extricate him and he fights against them," said Davis.
DeHart Jr. then fires shots out of the window, and McCowan collapses. Eggers screams and collapses too.
In total, the Taser was activated at least three times and the gun was fired at least six times.
"Shots fired, shots fired. I'm hit," Eggers said as DeHart Jr. drove away.
After the gunshots were fired, DeHart Jr. is heard yelling expletives at the deputies while driving away. Eggers returned fire.
The video then documents responses from members of the community. She approached a car pulled over near the traffic stop and told a person inside that she was shot and needed help. The people inside immediately stepped out and helped her apply a tourniquet.
Eggers instructs the person on how to apply a tourniquet. Another person gets out, and both tell Eggers to sit down while she continues speaking over her radio.
"I think I'm about to go unconscious," she said over the radio as one of the people stood near her.
Another deputy eventually arrives, dragging her to his cruiser with help from the people. There, after a deputy appears to administer medical aid, the video ends.