A Tennessee prosecutor is facing a reckless endangerment charge after shooting a fugitive several times and attacking a home where a woman and her three children were present.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the grand jury indictment against District Attorney Chris Stanford on Monday. His district includes Van Buren and Warren counties.
The indictment says that when the incident unfolded in Smithville on Nov. 21, a bullet that Stanford shot from his gun went through a patio chair on the porch, through an exterior wall and into the wall of the home’s living room. The woman and children were not injured.
Smithville is located about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.
The complaint states that Stanford fired the shot “unlawfully, intentionally and recklessly.” There was no immediate threat to him or others, he did not point the gun and “simply held it out and fired” without using the gun’s sights, the complaint adds.
Following his arraignment, Stanford surrendered at the DeKalb County Jail and was released after posting $10,000 bail, TBI said. A message left at Stanton’s office was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office last month described the circumstances that led to the incident. A social media post said authorities were pursuing suspects after finding three dead bodies in a house and an adjacent building.
The suspects were sighted in DeKalb County, the sheriff’s office said. One of them was arrested without incident. Stanford and other law enforcement officers 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 the 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 attack. No one was shot when Stanford fired his gun. The homeland security officer 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 and accelerated rapidly. I fired my service weapon in defense of myself and others at the scene. Based on my training and the circumstances that presented themselves, I believe my actions were necessary and were justified,” Stanford said. said.
Stanford also told the news station that he has a state law enforcement certification to carry his weapon at all times.
The two suspects in the three deaths were taken into custody and charged with murder, while the driver, who was also taken into custody, is charged with felony evading arrest and aggravated assault, the sheriff’s office said.
Stanford will appear in court on January 7, WTVF reports. Since he showed up on the scene and fired his gun, he is now a witness and cannot prosecute the triple murder in his home county, the station reported.
