Rocky Top man indicted on attempted murder charge

A Rocky Top man was indicted on an attempted first-degree murder charge this month in a shooting that allegedly involved his wife.

Steven Wayne Rice, 38, has also been indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon.

Rice was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on March 7. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday.

He is accused of trying to kill Amy Rice, who is identified as his wife in earlier arrest warrants, on August 30, 2015.

Rice had initially been charged with attempted first-degree murder and reckless endangerment. Those charges were waived from Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to the Anderson County Grand Jury on September 15, 2016.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that Rice had threatened Amy Rice with a pistol and fired it when three other people in the home tackled him and took away the gun.

The Rocky Top Police Department responded to the call of a shot fired at 411 Wallace Avenue at about 2:55 a.m. Sunday, August 30, 2015.

RTPD Officer Richard Foschino said Rice was on the front porch when he arrived. When asked what happened, Rice responded, “I fired the gun,” Foschino said.

Amy Rice said she was in the house moments earlier with her husband, and when she stood in a bedroom doorway, her husband pointed the 9mm semi-automatic pistol at her from inside the bedroom and said, “I’m going to blow your head off, (expletive),” according to the warrants.

Three other people in the home said they heard Amy Rice yell, “He’s got a gun,” Foschino said.

The three said they ran into the bedroom and saw Steven Rice standing with the pistol pointed at his wife, according to the warrants. They said they rushed into the bedroom and tackled Steven Rice, and as one of the three pushed Rice’s arm away, Rice pulled the trigger, firing the gun.

“They said they knocked Mr. Rice to the floor and got the pistol away from him,” Foschino said.

One of the three said she hid the gun in a dresser drawer in another room. Foschino said it had one live round in the chamber and three live rounds in the clip.

“Further, I located one spent 9mm shell casing on the floor in the front bedroom and observed what appeared to be a bullet hole in the bedroom wall, which passed through the wall to the outside,” Foschino said.

Bond for Rice was set at $100,000. He was released from the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on September 2, 2015.

More information will be added as it becomes available.