A Tennessee district attorney is facing a reckless endangerment charge after he shot a fugitive multiple times and hit a home where a woman and her three children were inside.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the grand jury indicted District Attorney Chris Stanford on Monday. His district covers Van Buren and Warren counties.
The indictment says that when the incident unfolded in Smithville on Nov. 21, a bullet Stanford fired from his handgun went through a front porch patio chair, 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 himself or others, he was not pointing the gun and “just reached and fired” without using the gun’s sights, the indictment added.
After his arraignment, Stanford turned himself in to the DeKalb County Jail and was released after posting $10,000 bond, TBI said. A message left with 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 chasing suspects after three bodies were found in a house and an adjacent building.
The suspects were spotted in DeKalb County, the sheriff’s office said. One of them was arrested without incident. Stanford and other law enforcement officials chased 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 a CBS affiliate WTVF-TVStanford said he fired shots in response to the impact of the homeland security agent. No one was shot when Stanford fired his weapon. The homeland security officer was injured and taken to the hospital, according to a social media post from District Attorney Bryant Dunaway.
“The vehicle drove toward me and the others, accelerating 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 justified,” Stanford. he said
Stanford also told the news station that he has a state law enforcement certification to carry his gun at all times.
The two suspects in the three deaths were arrested and charged with felony murder, while the driver, who was also arrested, faces felony counts of evading arrest and aggravated assault, according to the sheriff’s office .
Stanford will make a court appearance on January 7 WTVF reported. Since he showed up at the scene and shot, he is now a witness and cannot prosecute the triple murder in his own county, the station reported.