KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For years, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee CEO Ashley Coffield said the organization's facilities stood in Tennessee without any violence. Until 2021.
Knoxville Police said on Jan. 22, 2021, someone fired a shotgun into the Planned Parenthood center in East Knoxville on Cherry Street. It shattered the facility's front door.
The date marked the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The landmark Supreme Court ruling declared a person's right to terminate a pregnancy and has since been overturned by the Supreme Court.
Around 11 months later, on Dec. 31, 2021, an early morning fire destroyed the Planned Parenthood building. The Knoxville Fire Department declared the building a total loss.
Through Tennessee's Open Records law, WBIR reviewed the Knoxville Fire Department's investigation file. Surveillance video from Planned Parenthood shows a man arriving in a red truck with a faulty headlight.
Around 6 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2021, the truck was filmed pulling up near the facility. It drove into an alley near Planned Parenthood and parks.
At 6:26 a.m., federal investigators believe they saw a glow on surveillance video near the north side of the center. Court records show investigators saw a man walking back into the truck and driving away.
The first 911 call came in at 6:37 a.m. Within minutes, the Knoxville Fire Department arrived on scene. Firefighters worked for more than three hours to put the fire out. About a month after the fire, the Knoxville Fire Department ruled it an arson.
Investigators searched Mark Reno's cars and found shotgun shells that matched the Jan. 22 shooting. They discovered gasoline and matchbooks in a truck that matched the truck seen before the fire. Agents also found books with instructions on making explosive devices.
Reno died in jail in Laurel County, Kentucky in 2022. He was awaiting trial on accusations he shot into the federal building in downtown Knoxville. A judge had ordered Reno's cars and gun used in the crimes against Planned Parenthood seized after his death.
Knoxville's Planned Parenthood facility is set to reopen this summer. It was two weeks into a six-week renovation in 2021 when KFD declared it a total loss.
"We had worked for years to raise the money and create the plans to renovate and expand that facility for our patients in East Tennessee and that in just within a few hours, it was completely gone," Coffield said.
Planned Parenthood continued serving patients via telehealth and through a mobile health clinic while the facility was closed.