Roane State’s Herron wins EMS Advocate honor

Pictured, from left: John Fitzsimmons, retired director of Lincoln Medical Center EMS, Roane State’s Thomas Herron, and Rick Valentine, director of the Sevier County Ambulance Service. (Photo courtesy Linda P Photography)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State’s Thomas Herron knows first-hand the trauma that EMS personnel can experience as part of their jobs.

Twenty-four years ago, he and a partner responded to an emergency call for a nine-year-old who did not survive. “I knew it bothered me, but I never realized how deeply at first,” Herron said.

Then, in March 2019, he learned that his partner from that call had taken their own life. A note was found that “mentioned me and that call,” said Herron, a Roane State assistant professor and clinical coordinator.

The incident was seared into his psyche, prompting Herron to launch a campaign to make EMS personnel aware of the “exploding problems with mental health issues” also faced by firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

“We’ve always told ourselves we’re supposed to be tougher,” Herron said, “but there’s so much research showing we’re missing the early warning signs of mental health issues.”

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For members: Man accused of robbing gas station on Emory Valley Road

A 34-year-old Oak Ridge man has been accused of robbing the store at the Shell gas station on Emory Valley Road in May.

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A 34-year-old Oak Ridge man has been accused of robbing the store at the Shell gas station on Emory Valley Road in May.

Arriean Latife O’Neal Kenebrew has been charged with aggravated robbery. He is accused of robbing the Bread Box food store at the Shell gas station on Emory Valley Road at about 10:10 p.m. May 2.

A 34-year-old Oak Ridge man has been accused of robbing the store at the Shell gas station on Emory Valley Road in May.

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CPD: Man charged with attempted murder after shooting

Micheal West (Photo via Clinton Police Department)

A Knoxville man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and other alleged crimes after a shooting that injured another man at a gas station in south Clinton early Monday morning.

Micheal West, 38, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangerment, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the Clinton Police Department.

The shooting was reported at about 5 a.m. Monday, May 24, in the parking lot of the Git’N Go Market on Clinch Avenue.

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For members: Man who tried to shoot deputy sentenced to 25 years

Charles Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, May 24, 2021, for trying to shoot a deputy in April 2019, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—An Anderson County man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder for trying to shoot a deputy northeast of Oak Ridge in April 2019 was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday.

Charles Edward Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and five felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of interfering with a 911 call and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

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Charles Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, May 24, 2021, for trying to shoot a deputy in April 2019, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—An Anderson County man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder for trying to shoot a deputy northeast of Oak Ridge in April 2019 was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday.

Charles Edward Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and five felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of interfering with a 911 call and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

Charles Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, May 24, 2021, for trying to shoot a deputy in April 2019, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—An Anderson County man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder for trying to shoot a deputy northeast of Oak Ridge in April 2019 was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday.

Charles Edward Mason, 54, pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and five felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of interfering with a 911 call and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

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One person injured in Monday shooting in Clinton

One person was injured in an early morning shooting in Clinton on Monday, according to the Clinton Police Department.

The shooting was reported just after 5 a.m. Monday at the Git ‘N Go Market on Clinch Avenue in South Clinton.

The CPD said one adult male was shot during the incident, and he was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening. Police said the man had at least one gunshot wound to his lower body, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton, which cited CPD Assistant Chief Jim Campbell.

Preliminary information from witnesses indicated that a car pulled into the store parking lot, fired multiple shots at the victim, and fled before officers arrived, WYSH Radio said.

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Two die in crashes in Anderson County

Two people died in crashes in Anderson County this past weekend. One was a student at Hardin Valley Academy, and the other was a 43-year-old Knoxville woman.

The first crash, which killed the HVA senior, was reported in the Claxton area on Friday night. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said it was a graduation season tragedy involving some young people who had been celebrating in Knox County.

“Whether they were served alcohol at a commercial establishment is being investigated,” Clark said in a social media post on Saturday.

Clark said it appeared that eight people were riding in a pickup truck when it crashed in the Claxton area on New Henderson Road at Henderson Bend Road.

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For members: Council approves purchase of 3 drones for police, fire

The Oak Ridge City Council in a special meeting on Tuesday approved the purchase of three drones that will help police officers and firefighters battle blazes, find lost people, and respond to calls about people barricaded with weapons.

The seven-member Council had deferred a vote on the drones during its May 10 meeting after members raised questions about privacy, civil liberties, and requests for images or videos inadvertently captured by the drones.

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The Oak Ridge City Council in a special meeting on Tuesday approved the purchase of three drones that will help police officers and firefighters battle blazes, find lost people, and respond to calls about people barricaded with weapons.

The seven-member Council had deferred a vote on the drones during its May 10 meeting after members raised questions about privacy, civil liberties, and requests for images or videos inadvertently captured by the drones.

The Oak Ridge City Council in a special meeting on Tuesday approved the purchase of three drones that will help police officers and firefighters battle blazes, find lost people, and respond to calls about people barricaded with weapons.

The seven-member Council had deferred a vote on the drones during its May 10 meeting after members raised questions about privacy, civil liberties, and requests for images or videos inadvertently captured by the drones.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Already charged with murder, two also charged with child rape, sexual exploitation

Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge some time between December 2019 and August 2020, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Two Oak Ridge defendants who were previously charged with first-degree murder, aggravated rape, and abuse of a corpse in the death of a 36-year-old woman have now been charged with aggravated child rape and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Sean S. Finnegan, 53, and Rebecca E. Dishman, 23, were charged last summer with murder, sex crimes, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse after Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36, was allegedly tortured, raped, and strangled, and her body was allegedly cut and broken before being stuffed into a freezer in a home on East Fairview Road in Oak Ridge.

The new child rape and sexual exploitation charges followed an investigation by the Oak Ridge Police Department, according to a press release from the office of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark in Clinton. Finnegan and Dishman have been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury, the press release said.

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City wants to buy three drones for police, fire

The City of Oak Ridge wants to buy three drones for the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department.

The drones could minimize risks to emergency responders, according to a city memo. Drones could help officers and firefighters perform dangerous tasks such as responding to reports of armed people and other imminent threats, and evaluating fires and hazardous material incidents, the city said. Drones could also help with searches for lost people, which are often impeded by dense vegetation or delayed while waiting for all-terrain vehicles or boats.

“A drone can perform these tasks without delay and without placing responders at risk,” the memo said.

The drones could be used for aerial observation and intelligence collection, the memo said.

[Read more…]