KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Body camera footage released Friday by the Knox County Sheriff's Office shows the moments that led up to an officer-involved shooting in Powell at the beginning of the year.
On Jan. 4, a deputy responded to a home on West Emory Road. The call was for a burglar fire alarm at the home. The sheriff's office said the deputy arrived on scene, parked in the driveway and pushed the doorbell.
Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler said no one came to the door so the deputy walked around to the side of the house but there was a wooden gate so he walked back around front.
The deputy said the door had a glass storm door and, according to Spangler, he was able to look in and see clothing strewn around so he went to the back of the home.
From there, the body camera footage shows the officer going through the gate to the back door and the deputy learns dispatch received a panic alarm which gives him an idea of what he's expecting, according to Sheriff Spangler.
When the deputy arrived at the back door, he learned it was locked and heard a female screaming and asked the homeowner to show him his hands.
The homeowner, who Spangler said is also a KCSO property clerk employee, opened the door aiming a weapon at the deputy on the other side of the door.
The KCSO deputy fired one shot, and the homeowner was not injured, according to the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Tom Spangler said both employees have returned to work.
“As far as we’re concerned he conducted himself in the way he should have,” Spangler said. “By the grace of God, we could have had two fatalities here. Fortunately, no one got hit.”
He said the deputy who responded was on his first call as a deputy. He had just finished a roughly 14-week training and was four hours into his first shift alone.
The deputy approached the home and didn't take his weapon out until he heard a female inside yelling and the alarm was still going off, according to Spangler. The family on the other side of the door later told investigators they forgot to turn off the alarm that prompted the call in the first place and Spangler said when the deputy approached the door they believed it was a threat.
The woman was yelling because she was concerned about her husband, who didn't know it was a deputy on the other side of the door, Spangler said.
Spangler also said anyone who pulls a gun on a deputy, even in their own yard, should expect the same result.
"Somebody who's innocent inside their home is thinking they're doing the right thing, but yet they come out pointing a weapon and you don't know who it is without looking, you've put yourself in a situation you don't want to be in."
ORIGINAL REPORT: KCSO investigating shooting in Powell area