Information from WYSH Radio
An investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has concluded that the shooting of an armed burglary suspect in Harriman on Tuesday was justified. Officers shot and killed 28-year-old Miranda Michelle Guy inside her home on Fairchild Street on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a joint press release from District Attorney General Russell Johnson, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harriman Police Department, Guy pointed a handgun at the officers and was advancing on one of them when they opened fire. The preliminary autopsy showed that Guy was hit multiple times in her right arm, which was holding the gun, and her front torso.
Officials said that while a Harriman Police Department officer was speaking to witnesses of a burglary at a storage building in South Harriman, a white pickup truck drove by that the witnesses identified as the vehicle that the suspect in the break-in had been driving. The release said the officer could see items in the bed of the truck that matched the description of some of the stolen items. The officer ordered the truck to stop, but the driver, who was identified as Guy, sped up and drove away.
The officer started a pursuit, which was joined by a HPD investigator and two Roane County Sheriff’s Department deputies. The four officers followed Guy to her house, where they saw her run inside. The officers split up, with two going to the back of the house while the other two followed Guy inside through the front door.
The release indicated that Harriman investigator Lieutenant Dan Schneider entered the house first and confronted Guy in the kitchen and her roommate, Melissa Grove, in the family room. Grove got down on the floor, and both the officer and Grove said that Guy pointed the gun at her own head and pulled the trigger. It clicked but didn’t go off, and Schneider ordered her to drop the gun.
At that point, the release said that Roane County deputy Chris White came in the front door, and Guy pointed the gun in his direction. Both officers said they ordered Guy to drop the gun several times, but she instead began to walk towards White with the gun raised. That’s when both officers fired their guns at Guy until she dropped to the floor and released the gun.
Crews took Guy to Roane County Medical Center in Harriman, where she was pronounced dead.
The release said that Guy’s roommate confirmed what both officers involved in the shooting said happened in the house.
Schneider, 57, has been in law enforcement for 28 years. White, 43, has been working in law enforcement for 15 years.
After reviewing all of the evidence, including that gathered by the TBI, which assisted in the investigation, Johnson cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing. In the release, he said, “The two officers were confronted with deadly force (a fleeing felony suspect with a criminal history pointing a loaded gun who at the time was being pursued from an active crime scene), so they responded accordingly.” He has cleared both officers to return to duty after they meet the protocols required by their department.
Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton and Harriman Police Chief Randy Heidle said the officers involved would remain on paid leave for a few more days.
Officials said Guy had a criminal history, which included assault, vandalism, probation violations, and other charges. In the past arrests, the press release noted that Guy had threatened harm to officers in the past. A neighbor also told investigators after the shooting that Guy had threatened to shoot him the night before.
Information in this story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.
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