By Tim Wetzel and Eric White
NewsChannel5.com
LEBANON, Tenn. — An officer with the Lebanon Police Department accidentally shot and killed the suspect in a high speed vehicle pursuit.
Officials said Officer David McKinnley was driving on the Highway 70 bypass around 2:30 a.m. when a vehicle entered his lane. McKinnley believed the other driver may have intentionally tried to ram his police cruiser head-on.
McKinnley and another police officer began to chase the driver, identified as 23-year-old Greg Thompson, Jr.
The vehicles made their way onto Carthage Highway, where Thompson ran off the road.
Lebanon police Commissioner Billy Weeks said at a news conference that the officers reported Thompson was non-compliant after the crash.
As the officers approached the vehicle, McKinnley slipped and his firearm went off. Officer Mitch McDannald thought the gunfire came from the suspect and he returned fire, fatally wounding Thompson.
Read full story: Lebanon officer accidentally shoots, kills driver
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