KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Update (8/2): Scott County Sheriff Brian Keeton responded Wednesday after 10News reported a deputy was placed on administrative leave and investigated for firing his weapon in a "dangerous" manner.
Keeton said the Scott County Sheriff's Office and a Tennesee Bureau of Investigation agent agreed this was a matter to be investigated internally because "there were no injuries in the incident but a clear discharge of the weapon."
WBIR asked Keeton for comment multiple times before the publication of the initial story. We left a voicemail for Keeton earlier in July, then again on Friday, July 28 and visited the Scott County Sheriff's Office on Monday, July 31. 10News did not receive a response until Aug. 2—two days after the story aired on TV and was published online.
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A Scott County deputy was placed on administrative leave and investigated for firing his weapon in a "dangerous" manner, a letter in his personnel file shows. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was not asked to investigate, a spokesperson said.
The incident report said Martin Pittman, the deputy, was dispatched to retrieve a side-by-side. Pittman wrote he noticed the taillights and they were pulling away, when he arrived on June 2, the report said.
"[I] pulled my service pistol as side-by-side was turning right on the trail and fired one shot wide and behind the side-by-side," Pittman wrote in the incident report.
The letter in Pittman's file, signed by Captain Kevin Marlow, Chief Deputy Brett Bond and Sheriff Brian Keeton said Pittman "discharged his service weapon at a vehicle that was moving away from him and in a manner that created a dangerous situation for a fellow officer."
"The general standard in practice is for, when there is a deputy-involved shooting or an officer-involved shooting, to get another department so that you at least have the appearance of independence relative to the investigation," said T. Scott Jones, an attorney and legal analyst for 10News.
Local district attorneys general usually call TBI to investigate officer-involved shootings. Susan Niland, a spokesperson for TBI, said the agency was not asked to investigate this incident.
"We investigate officer-involved shootings at the request of the respective District Attorney General," Niland said in an email.
In a text message, District Attorney General Jared Effler for Scott County said he could not comment "based on action my office may take in the future."
10News left messages for Pittman, he has not responded.