(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- The truck driver who struck and killed a state trooper as he struggled with a suspect on Interstate 24 had been drinking, according to the state police.
Trooper John Mann, 40, was hit by a truck driven by James Alan Sheppard, 34 on the highway as the officer tried to arrest Charles W. Gray, who was suspected of stealing a taxi cab.
Police have charged Sheppard with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, leaving the scene of an injury accident and failure to report an accident. His bond was set at $28,000.
Metro police spokesman Don Aaron told the Tennessean that Sheppard admitted to police that he had been drinking before the accident. The results from a blood sample taken to determine the level of alcohol was in his system have not been reported.
According to police accounts, Mann was chasing Gray after the taxi that the suspect had been driving rear-ended another car and smashed into a guardrail. When Gray’s car became disables he ran across the highway and jumped the concrete barrier into the eastbound lanes of I 24. The trooper tackled him in the middle of the highway and the two men began to struggle.
It was at this point that Sheppard’s truck ran over the two men as they fought in the road.
According to the Tennessean, Sheppard told police that he knew he hit something, but didn’t realize what it was. He turned himself in after seeing reports of the accident on TV.
The suspect, Gray, was also injured in the accident. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is in a period of mourning following the accident. Flags have been lowered to half-mast and black bands have been affixed to badges.
“John was so well known, was so well liked,” highway patrol spokeswoman Dana Keeton told the newspaper. “The troopers are having some trouble absorbing this.”
Visitation with the family in Nashville will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Friday at Temple Baptist Church, 3810 Kings Lane. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Brownsville, Tennessee, at Haywood High School. Woodlawn Funeral Home of Nashville is directing the services.
Mann, 40, is survived by two brothers, Clifford Mann and Claude Mann, who are officers with the Metro police.