A Tennessee prosecutor faces a charge of reckless endangerment after he repeatedly shot a fugitive and struck a home where a woman and her three children were.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the grand jury indictment against District Attorney Chris Stanford on Monday. His district covers Van Buren and Warren counties.
The indictment states that when the incident unfolded in Smithville on Nov. 21, a bullet fired by Stanford from his handgun passed through a patio chair on the porch, through an exterior wall and into the wall of the living room of the house. The woman and children were not injured.
Smithville is about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.
The indictment says Stanford fired the shot “unlawfully, intentionally and recklessly.” There was no immediate threat to him or others, he was not aiming his handgun and “merely reaching and shooting” without using the gun’s sights, the indictment adds.
Following his indictment, Stanford turned himself in to the DeKalb County Jail and was released after posting $10,000 bond, the TBI said. A message left at Stanton’s office was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office described the circumstances leading up to the incident last month. In a social media post, he said authorities were pursuing the suspects after discovering three bodies in a house and an adjacent building.
The suspects were seen in DeKalb County, the sheriff’s office said. One of them was taken into custody without incident. Stanford and other law enforcement officials pursued the other suspect, who was a passenger in a car, the office said.
While trying to help the suspect flee, the driver struck a Homeland Security officer with his car, the sheriff’s office said.
In a statement last month to CBS affiliate WTVF-TV, Stanford said he fired shots in response to the Homeland Security agent’s strike. No one was shot when Stanford fired his gun. The Homeland Security agent was injured and taken to the hospital, according to a social media post from District Attorney Bryant Dunaway.
“The vehicle then drove toward me and others, accelerating rapidly. I fired my service weapon to defend myself and others at the scene. Based on my training and the circumstances that arose, are presented, I believe my actions were necessary and justified,” Stanford said. said.
Stanford also told the news station that he has a state law enforcement certificate allowing him to carry his weapon at all times.
The two suspects in the three deaths have been taken into custody and charged with criminal homicide, while the driver, also in custody, is at risk of evading arrest and facing charges of aggravated assault , according to the sheriff’s office.
Stanford will appear in court on Jan. 7, WTVF reported. Since he showed up at the scene and fired his gun, he is now a witness and cannot prosecute the triple murder in his own county, the station reported.
