Dog attack leads to Knox County deputy accidentally shooting partner
By: The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has released more details about the incident that led to one deputy shooting his partner on July 5.
On Thursday, body camera footage was released showing the incident in more detail. Deputy Lydia Driver was called out along with several other officers to a home on Brickyard Road to serve a warrant. Two of those officers had gone around to the side of the home when a dog rushed at them from off in the dark. The sheriff’s office says Deputy Jordan Hurst was trying to shoot the dog but missed, hitting Driver instead.
The body camera videos released are from Driver’s and Hurst’s cameras. Both videos begin at 10:36 p.m. and end at 10:53 p.m. on July 5. Throughout the beginning of the video, a dog is heard barking as officers walk up to the house.
At 10:46, a dog runs out and begins attacking Driver. She is eventually knocked to the ground. This is when Hurst fires the gun toward the dog. In the video from Hurst’s body cam, the dog’s head is seen inches away from the point where Driver was hit in the upper leg.
After the shots are fired, Driver is heard screaming in pain. She also screams out she’s been shot. Officers then begin giving aid to Driver. A tourniquet is placed on her leg. Hurst is heard asking Driver if she is okay while trying to keep her from going unconscious. He is also heard frantically calling for help on his radio.
At 10:51, officers help Driver walk back to a patrol car after backup arrives to take her off the scene to the hospital. She was then taken to UT Medical Center.
The Office of Professional Standards has concluded that no general orders were violated while all of this was unfolding.
The case behind all this was an effort to arrest a woman named Ashley Webber on identity theft and forgery charges. According to a document released Thursday, a man named Albert Bowling told deputies that Weber was not inside the home. She was later found hiding in a crawl space under the home and taken into custody. Bowling was arrested on a charge of accessory after the fact for hiding Webber knowing she was wanted by law enforcement.
Driver was released from the hospital on July 11. She has begun the physical rehabilitation process.
The dog was in quarantine at Young Williams Animal Center for 10 days, as required by state law.