Man who shot deputy gets 26 years in prison
A man charged last year with shooting a Sequatchie County, Tenn., deputy was sentenced to 26 years in prison on charges of attempted first-degree murder and employing a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Shaun M. Powers, 22, was sentenced Oct. 6 to 20 years in prison on the attempted firstdegree murder charge and another six years on the firearm charge, according to records filed in Sequatchie County Circuit Court. Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. “Rusty” Graham ordered that the sentences be added together and served consecutively. Two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a count of evading arrest were dismissed, records show.
Powers was given credit for having been held in jail for 499 days since his arrest, records show.
On Friday, 12th Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Steve Strain the plea and sentence were agreeable to the prosecution and victim.
“We were satisfied with the sentence and the officer who was shot was satisfied with it,” Strain said.
The charges stemmed from a police chase on May 25, 2016, that ended at the bottom of Cagle Mountain with Powers getting one bullet wound to his hand and Deputy Wallace Cunningham receiving bullet wounds in the shoulder and torso, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock’s account at the time of the incident.
The wounds to both men were through and through, officials said.
The chase started after Cunningham was dispatched to an unrelated call and he encountered Powers’ vehicle, which “did two or three doughnuts” and sped past the deputy, who began to chase him, Hitchcock said in 2016.
After being pursued for at least a mile, Powers spun out into a ditch on Tram Trail near state Highway 111 on the north end of Dunlap, the sheriff said.
Cunningham then exited his patrol car and “gave lawful commands in an attempt to approach and arrest Powers, who did not comply, and brandished a weapon toward the deputy,” TBI officials said of the initial investigation.
Cunningham discharged his stun gun toward Powers and a struggle for the suspect’s gun ensued, during which the deputy was shot by Powers at least twice. Despite his injuries, Cunningham was able to disarm and detain Powers until other law enforcement officers could arrive, officials said.
Hitchcock said the first shot was fired when Cunningham pulled open Powers’ car door and the bullet struck the deputy in the shoulder. Then, as the two struggled for the weapon, another shot hit both men, the sheriff said.
Hitchcock said the second bullet went past Cunningham’s bulletproof vest. Cunningham never fired his own weapon but still managed to wrestle the weapon away from Powers and detain him until other officers arrived.