By Matt Lakin
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A routine burglar alarm call Tuesday ended with a veteran Knoxville police officer being shot for the second time in his career, eight black men being taken into custody and a community being sent into lockdown.
Authorities said the search continued late Tuesday night for the “two or three” men who shot Knoxville Police Department Offi cer Norman Rickman, a 19-year veteran, as he responded to the alarm call in Northwest Knoxville near the city limits.
Rickman, who’d been shot before in 2001, didn’t have on a protective vest, police said. “It was his choice” whether to wear it, Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said.
Rickman remained in critical condition after surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Police hadn’t charged any of the men detained in the shooting, said KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk.
“There’s no one that we have tied to this case at this point,” DeBusk said. “We’re still searching.”
The trouble began at 2:55 p.m. when Rickman arrived at 6600 Rockbridge Lane and went to the back of the house. Two or three men climbed out of a window and shot at him, DeBusk said.
About three shots hit the 45-year-old officer in the upper body, DeBusk said. Neighbors ran to his aid, and officers arrived within minutes, police said.
Officer Bill Muhlfeld, trained as a cadet by Rickman two years ago, rode with him to the hospital. Rickman talked with him on the way, DeBusk said.
Officers surrounded a house about four hours later on Cougar Drive near Woods-Smith Road, less than a mile from the scene. They detained one man driving a white Ford Crown Victoria, along with another man nearby and two men who ran into the woods, De-Busk said.
Police found a jacket in the car “similar” to what witnesses described one of the shooters as wearing, he said.
“They have not been identified as suspects in this case yet,” DeBusk said.
He said the arrests didn’t amount to a wholesale roundup of black men.
“We have not picked up anyone who was not running from us or acting suspiciously,” DeBusk said. “We had probable cause.”
The president of the local NAACP chapter said he has his doubts.
“Whoever committed this crime definitely needs to be punished,” said the Rev. Ezra Maize, pastor of First AME Zion Church. “But we are extremely curious as to what went wrong. Justice ought to take place, but I believe there is a process for bringing that justice about. Acting suspicious is not probable cause.”
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said Rickman “was coherent” when he arrived at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at 3:44 p.m.
“He acknowledged knowing who was around him,” the police chief said.
Rickman hit the emergency button on his radio after being shot, and police arrived almost immediately, DeBusk said. Officers from agencies including the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the FBI, the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement from other counties arrived soon afterward.
Shelia Sturgill, who lives next door to the house where Rickman was shot, said her husband, William, heard the gunshots.
“He was in our house,” she said. “He looked out and saw the officer lying face down.”
Her husband called E-911 while Tim Hall, a registered nurse who lives across the street, ran out to check the officer’s wounds and provide first aid until an ambulance arrived, she said.
The ambulance ran into engine trouble after debris in the road bounced up and hit the radiator, according to Rural/ Metro Ambulance Service. A backup ambulance met the crew and carried Rickman to the hospital.
David Jones, who lives near the scene of the shooting, said he heard the shots but didn’t realize at first what they were.
“It sounded like a handful of firecrackers going off,” he said. “But when I saw the men jump in the truck and drive off, I knew something was wrong.”
Shaka Johnson said her brother Johnny Malone lives at the house and got home before the ambulance arrived for Rickman.
“He was at work,” she said a couple hours afterward. “He’s still really shook up.”
Neighbors say they don’t recall any history of break-ins in the area.
Authorities believe the gun used to shoot Rickman to be a small-caliber weapon, according to Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J” Jones.
The men sped away in a gray Chevrolet Cavalier or a newer-model black pickup, DeBusk said.
Police described one of the shooters as a tall, black man with a thin build wearing a bomber-type jacket and baggy jeans. They didn’t give detailed descriptions of the others.
Authorities asked that anyone who might have seen the men or a similar vehicle call E-911.
Copyright 2008 The Knoxville News-Sentinel