KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A traffic stop led to a shooting that killed a Blount County Sheriff's Deputy and wounded another, according to body camera video the sheriff's office released of the Feb. 8 shooting. Greg McCowan, a BCSO deputy, died in the shooting. Shelby Eggers, another deputy, was wounded.
Deputies have charged Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. in the shooting. He was arrested at a home on Linden Avenue last Tuesday, after a nearly five-day manhunt. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation led the search for DeHart Jr. after the shooting and is charged with reviewing cases of misconduct by law enforcement.
Body camera video shows Eggers pulled DeHart over because he was swerving into the opposite lane, into oncoming traffic. Eggers said she smelled marijuana in DeHart's car. She asked him to get out when the situation escalated.
"He was a danger to the public," said TBI Director David Rausch about the initial traffic stop. "We're fortunate that he didn't go head-on with a family, and kill a family."
Eggers called McCowan for backup. He was on scene for under three minutes before the shooting.
Video released by BCSO shows DeHart would not get out of the car when Eggers asked. It showed McCowan using his Taser on DeHart.
"The deployment of the Taser was appropriate," Rausch said. "Deputy Eggers' traffic stop was lawful, appropriate, legal."
Dash camera and body camera footage of the interaction show DeHart firing at the deputies. The sheriff showed a portion of the video twice, where DeHart opens his door and fires, again, on McCowan who is already on the ground.
Once DeHart left the scene, authorities spent nearly five days searching for DeHart. They located him on Feb. 13.
"I can talk a little bit about our technology, but have to be careful because a lot of it is still protected," Rausch said. "Everyone knows the ability to track cellphones is out there. That's not a secret."
Rausch said old-fashioned detective work helped investigators narrow down DeHart's location.
"That technology has to be fed with good, actionable intelligence," Rausch said. "Being able to look at patterns and discern patterns, that's really what led to the ultimate location. Then, again, more technology I won't go into that pinpointed the location."
Investigators are still trying to piece together all of DeHart's whereabouts during the five-day search, Rausch said. Three people have been charged with helping DeHart after the shooting. Rausch said there's the potential for several more to be charged.
"We have knowledge, but we've got to turn that knowledge into proof," Rausch said.
After his arrest, DeHart's booking photo from the Blount County Sheriff's Office showed an injury under his eye.
"We believe and the evidence shows the dog may have bitten the suspect. The marks that you see, we believe, were caused by the animal," Rausch said.
10News asked Rausch whether he saw any police brutality in the arrest.
"There was no brutality, no use of force, other than the ability to get his hands behind his back and getting handcuffed," Rausch said. "There's been no evidence shown to us that there's been any inappropriate behavior by police officers in this incident."
10News requested body camera and security camera video of DeHart's arrest on Friday. So far, the agency has not provided that video. In most cases, the video isn't released until TBI finishes its review of the case.