Deputy shoots, kills knife-wielding suspect
A Franklin County, Tenn., man was shot dead Wednesday after he allegedly pulled a knife on a sheriff’s deputy during an incident in Estill Springs.
The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Michael Adams, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine said Thursday.
“Preliminary information indicates the incident occurred shortly after 5:30 [p.m. CDT] when a deputy from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office approached a wanted subject identified as Michael Adams in the area of 204 Circle Drive in an effort to bring him into custody,” DeVine said in the statement. “During that exchange, Adams produced a knife in an attempt to harm the deputy, after which the deputy fired upon Adams, striking and killing him.”
On Thursday, Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller said authorities had been seeking Adams “for a week and a half” for failing to appear in court on felony child molestation charges.
“It’s a sad situation,” Fuller said.
The deputy involved has not been named.
Fuller said the deputy is on paid administrative leave while the TBI investigates the shooting. That is standard protocol for such incidents, the sheriff said.
The TBI has several agents, along with a team of forensic scientists, working as part of a Violent Crime Response Team to gather relevant evidence, interviews and information, DeVine said.
“Agents recovered a knife at the scene,” DeVine said. “Ongoing investigative efforts have determined the
subject was armed with a knife prior to being shot.”
TBI agents will turn over their findings to 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor.
On Thursday, sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Chris Guess said the deputy was nearby Wednesday when an Estill Springs police officer made the initial traffic stop and recognized Adams as a someone with outstanding warrants.
The Estill Springs officer attempted to take Adams into custody but the man fled. The deputy joined a short pursuit that ended in a nearby mobile home park.
“The man stopped and turned around and brandished a knife and came toward the deputy and he didn’t have any choice then,” Guess said. The sergeant declined to go into further detail and said the district attorney’s office would decide later what other information would be released.