Northeast TN sees spike in police shootings

NASHVILLE — This year, one in every five police shootings across the state has taken place in Northeast Tennessee — an area comprising 6.3% of the state's total population.In less than six months, there have been six police shootings across Washington, Sullivan, Johnson, Hawkins, Unicoi and Carter counties. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations has investigated 30 police shootings across the state as of Friday.When looking at only Sullivan County, the contrast becomes clearer — 10% of this year's officer-involved shootings have been committed in a county making up only 2.3% of the state's population.It puts Sullivan County on par with the number of police shootings this year in Davidson (3) and Shelby (4) counties, which have populations four to five times higher.It is important to note, however, that there are currently Memorandums of Understanding in place in both Shelby and Davidson counties in which TBI is not required to investigate certain police shootings, meaning there are likely more.With another six months to go, the number of shootings in Northeast Tennessee puts the region on track to break 2022's record, at 10.BY THE NUMBERSData available on the TBI website gives the number and locations of all officer involved shootings across the state dating back to 2019.According to that data, there have been three years in which Northeast Tennessee has had a high amount of officer shootings: 10 in 2022, eight in 2019, and six so far this year.Across the last five years, Northeast Tennessee has averaged seven shootings per 100,000 people. That's almost double the statewide average, at just under 4 per 100,000.In counties of similar populations (100,000 to 215,000 people), Sullivan and Washington counties show higher numbers.From 2020 to 2025, similar-sized counties such as Blount, Sumner, Maury and Wilson averaged 4.75 officer-involved shootings, with seven being the highest between them.Meanwhile, both Washington and Sullivan counties had more than twice the number of police shootings during the same period: Washington with 10 and Sullivan with 13.Those comparisons beg the question: why?FACTORS AT PLAYIt is unlikely that a single factor would be sufficient to explain the rise police shootings in Northeast Tennessee.The experience of the officer; whether the subject was intoxicated; the tone of conversation between the officer and subject prior to the shooting — there are a host of different variables at play, making a single answer far less likely than a combination of reasons."Usually, with these kinds of things, you take five shootings, and all five are completely different," said state Rep. Bud Hulsey, R-Kingsport. Hulsey served in the police force for 36 years and retired in Kingsport as a lieutenant."One, you got a car trying to run over somebody, and another one [the subject's] pulling the gun out of their pocket … all of them are different," he said.Hulsey and others familiar with the issue — such as Sullivan County District Attorney Barry Staubus — are unable to offer any simple explanations for the numbers."We've opened more cases to have the TBI investigate officer-related shootings in the last year or two than we've had in preceding years," said Staubus. "I've recognized that. I don't have any obvious explanations for why the numbers have gone up, but I recognize the phenomenon is happening."Both Staubus and Hulsey do, however, have a few ideas as to some causes.Staubus said a few cases this year have involved suspects who have made suicidal statements before firing their weapons, or who have been inebriated by drugs and alcohol."There's that phrase, 'suicide by cop,' where the people may have talked about suicide or been in depression, and also may be under the influence of drugs, and they pull a gun on an officer, or don't resist an officer's command to put a gun down, they don't do it," Staubus said.A shooting in early May involved a man armed with a handgun and threatening suicide on the Crockett Ridge Golf Course. The situation escalated, and shots were exchanged between both the officer and the subject. The man was declared dead at the scene.In another report, a man who was believed to be inebriated fled the scene of a crash on state Route 394 after an officer attempted to arrest him. The situation escalated, he drew a weapon on the officer, and he was shot dead.Like Staubus, Hulsey didn't boil the cause down to a single answer. But agreed that drugs and alcohol could be contributing to the problem."[Staubus] very well could be right," said Hulsey. "It might be a factor that we have some of the highest rates of opiate addiction in the state."It is important for an independent investigation to be conducted, one prosecutor said.Steven Finney, the district attorney general of the First Judicial District, said it has been his policy since taking office in September of 2022 to request the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation look into every shooting involving a law enforcement officer."It is important to have a neutral and detached agency such as TBI to conduct such an investigation for several reasons, none the least of which would be to avoid any possible conflicts of interest," he said.There were 24 overdose deaths in Sullivan County in 2019, and that number has climbed steadily every year since. Most recent data available from the Tennessee Department of Health shows that Sullivan County had 93 overdose deaths in 2023 — almost four times the rate four years prior.Washington County has seen a similar rise, from 28 overdose deaths in 2019 to 65 in 2023.Although the data seems to show a correlation, it isn't the entire story. Socioeconomic factors, education and employment could all potentially contribute to the issue. But, at the end of the day, they are trends used to explain patterns in situations which have their own unique causes, variables and explanations.Staff writer Robert Houk contributed to this report.More CoverageComing Monday in the Johnson City Press will be more coverage of police shootings in Northeast Tennessee in this two-part series.