BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Officers with the Blount County Sheriff's Office said a man is dead of an apparent suicide and another is recovering from a gunshot wound to his right ear.
This happened at a home on Quarry Hollow Rd. in Friendsville around 8:15 p.m. Friday.
Authorities identified the man who died as 68-year-old Jeffrey Scott West. He was pronounced dead at the scene. BCSO says an autopsy will be conducted at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
The man who was wounded, 24-year-old Kyle W. Spitze, was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. His wounds are not life-threatening.
According to BCSO, at approximately 8:15 p.m. Friday, investigators responded to a shooting call at a Quarry Hollow Road home. Upon arrival, they found Spitze and another person who lives in the home waiting outside. Spitze was given first-aid treatment and told officers that he and West, the man who died, were arguing in the home.
West pulled out a gun and shot at Spitze - that bullet grazed his ear. Spitze and the other person ran outside and called 911.
The Sheriff’s Crisis Negotiations and SWAT teams arrived at the scene. They began attempting to negotiate with West to try and get him to surrender. Those efforts failed and deputies sent a K-9 into the home shortly before 11 p.m. and discovered that West was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
No officers were hurt.