A Tennessee district attorney is facing charges of reckless endangerment after he allegedly shot at a woman and her child while in pursuit of three fugitives.
Chris Stanford, who covers Van Buren and Warren counties in The Volunteer State, was indicted on Monday after the November 21 shooting in Smithville.
He had been involved in attempting to arrest three suspects in connection with a triple homicide, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The Warren and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department had been trying to apprehend Caleb Dias Brookins, 28, Hannah McKenzi Rose, 21, and Jessica Root, 28.
Sanford is said to have been pursuing Rose and Brookins with deputies and a Homeland Security officer.
Footage of the scene shows Stanford appear to let off multiple shots from his handgun at a vehicle in the residential street after the car runs over another officer.
He then gives chase on foot with it later emerging that the rounds he let off went into a nearby apartment and narrowly missed a mother and her 3-year-old daughter.
His indictment says he fired the shots ‘unlawfully, intentionally and recklessly’ and that he wasn’t aiming the handgun, and ‘just held it out and shot’.
Stanford surrendered at the DeKalb County Jail and was released after he posted a $10,000 bond. Brookins, Rose and Root were all taken into custody.
The homeland security officer who was hit by the vehicle was injured and taken to the hospital, according to a social media post by District Attorney Bryant Dunaway.
DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray said in a statement to the Smithville Review: ‘The female driving the car [Rose] rammed a DeKalb Sheriff’s Department truck.
‘They were trying to get away and ran up into a yard at a residence on Bell Street.
‘It was at this time that District Attorney Stanford, who was on site, opened fire but failed to hit the vehicle or the suspects.’
In a statement to WTVF-TV, Stanfrod said he fired shots after the homeland security was hit by the car.
He said: ‘The vehicle then drove toward me and others, accelerating quickly. I fired my service weapon in defense of myself and others at the scene.
‘Based upon my training and the circumstances that presented themselves, I believe my actions were necessary and justified.’
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said: ‘On Nov. 21, agents began investigating the incident involving 31st Judicial District Attorney General Christopher Robert Stanford.
‘The investigation revealed that, during the pursuit of a wanted fugitive, Stanford fired a gun several times on Bell Street in Smithville, striking a home occupied by a woman and her three children.’
According to WGNS, Brookins and Root are facing three counts of criminal homicide while Rose was charged only with evading arrest and aggravated assault.
Brookins and Root were identified as the suspects involved in the deaths of three individuals.
The two are said to have killed William Piechocniski, Dana Ramsden and Otis Hawks II who were found in McMinnville.
Stanford is expected to next make an appearance in court on January 7 in relation to his indictment.