Tennessee deputy celebrating his 26th bday fatally shot by police
Police officers fatally shot an off-duty Tennessee sheriff’s deputy who was celebrating his bday with friends after he refused to drop his weapon, officials said.
Daniel Hendrix, a corrections officer with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, was celebrating his 26th bday with two female off-duty Chattanooga police officers when the incident occurred at a Shawnee Trail home at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
Hendrix all of a sudden became agitated and was carrying his individual gun when he lashed out at the female officers. The women managed to flee the home and one of them called 911, the TBI said.
Deputy Daniel Hendrix was fatally shot in Chattanooga, Tenn., while celebrating his bday.
Two on-duty Chattanooga police officers responded to the home and found Hendrix armed in the backyard, investigators said. The officers commanded Hendrix to drop his weapon, but he didn’t obey — prompting one officer to fire at him at least four times, witnesses and officials said.
Hendrix was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The scene where Deputy Daniel Hendrix was fatally shot Wednesday.
In a statement, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond suggested condolences and prayers to Hendrix’s family. He called the shooting an “unfortunate incident.”
The corrections officer worked with the Hamilton department since 2013. He was charged with assaulting a female inmate at Silverdale Detention Center in 2015, but was cleared of all charges and eventually returned to his duties, according to WDEF-TV.
TBI officials did not release the identity of the officer who fatally shot the deputy, citing an ongoing investigation.