Massive manhunt underway
By Jacqueline Koch and Ben Benton
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Officer Down: Deputy Sheriff Shane Tate
TRACY CITY, Tenn. — The suspect in the killing of one officer and the shooting of another this morning has been eluding police for several months on a separate charge, authorities said.
During a news conference, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristen Helm said police have been trying to serve Kermit Eugene Bryson, 29, with a warrant for probation violation for the past six to eight months.
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Mr.Bryson opened fire inside his trailer when officers came in to serve a warrant for probation violation, police said. He had violated his probation with a felony drug charge for marijuana, authorities said.
Kristen Helm with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Grundy County Deputy Shane Tate, along with a reserve deputy and Monteagle police officer Brian Malhoite, came to Kermit Bryson’s trailer around 2 a.m.
They parked down the road and walked to the trailer at 111 Monteagle Falls Road, she said.
“They approached the house very carefully,” she said. “They had good information that he was indeed there.”
She said the officers knocked on the door and entered the trailer.
“The officer was actually shot inside the residence,” she said.
Mr. Tate, a 29-year-old recent graduate of the police academy on the job for just two weeks, was dead at the scene. He was a three-year employee of the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office and had been on patrol for less than a year, according to officials.
Officer Malhoit, 26, was treated at a Sewanee hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, Mr. Strain said.
The reserve deputy was not injured, police said.
Law enforcement officials are investigating whether the officers returned fire, Ms. Helm said.
According to the agency’s Web site, Mr. Bryson is listed as one of the TBI’s Most Wanted. There is a $1,000 reward. Anyone with information is urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
“We know this is one desperate individual,” Ms. Helm said. “This is an absolute all-out manhunt. We have pulled out all the stops.”
Helicopters from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Warren County are involved in the search. Bloodhounds from Rhea County are in the search as are tracking dogs from several other law enforcement agencies.
“We do have a good geography of where he might be,” Ms. Helm said.
Police also believe Mr. Bryson acquired clothes after he fled from his trailer, Ms. Helm said, but did not say where he might have gotten those clothes.
Mr. Bryson had pleaded guilty to theft of property and theft under $500 in the 1990s, according to Hamilton County Criminal Court records.
Assistant District Attorney Steve Strain of the 12th Judicial District said the suspect also was on probation for a felony marijuana conviction, and had been released on a community service arrangement.
The prosecutor said he had no knowledge of any history of violent behavior by Mr. Bryson, who is believed to have ties to Chattanooga, as well as Rhea County.
Rhea County authorities said Mr. Bryson served two four-month terms in the Rhea County Jail on felony charges.
Rhea County Sheriff Department records show Mr. Bryson was arrested on Dec. 31, 2000, on charges of aggravated burglary, assault and theft of under $500, records show.
He was arrested again in Rhea County on Dec. 31, 2001 on charges of felony escape, vandalism and contempt of court, sheriff records show.
Authorities have locked down a Tracy City neighborhood and are using dogs in the search for Mr. Bryson.
“I’m sure they were trying to catch him at home,” Mr. Strain said about the early hour.
No one is being allowed to enter or leave the neighborhood, authorities said. Two helicopters are in the air and dog teams from Rhea and Coffee counties are on the scene.
Copyright 2008 Chattanooga Times Free Press