A police officer talks on the phone outside of a Lenoir City home on Monday following a four-hour standoff. The man that lived in the home apparently took his own life during the standoff with the Blount County SWAT team, Lenoir City police officers and Loudon County Sheriff's deputies.

Summary

A man apparently took his own life on Monday during a standoff with Blount County SWAT and other police at his Lenoir City home. A SWAT member was injured during the incident. The man, whose identity was not immediately released, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, said Lenoir City Mayor Matt Brookshire.

Lenoir City standoff video

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Standoff suspect kills self

Blount SWAT team member injured in incident

By Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: August 12. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: August 12. 2008 1:39PM

LENOIR CITY -- A man apparently took his own life on Monday during a standoff with Blount County SWAT team members and other police at his Lenoir City home. A SWAT member was injured during the incident.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, said Lenoir City Mayor Matt Brookshire.

"By way of a (SWAT) camera device, they were able to see the person in question had taken his life," Brookshire said as officers cleared from the standoff that lasted almost four hours.

The incident began when Lenior City police officer Jamie Witt went to the house on Gayle Avenue at 1:15 p.m. to question the man regarding an incident that occurred Saturday, said Marian O'Briant, public information officer for the Blount County Sheriff's Office.

When the officer arrived, the suspect was standing outside in his yard. The suspect then went around to the back of the house. The officer heard a gunshot from within the residence, according to O'Briant.

The Loudon County Sheriff's Office responded and officers began attempting to make contact with the man by a public-address system, cell phone and the man's home phone, Lenoir City Police Chief Don White said.

"That went on for approximately two hours," White said. "Every five minutes we failed to communicate with the gentleman inside."

At that point, White called in the Blount County Sheriff's Office SWAT team and crisis negotiators. Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and his crew arrived in the mobile command center and the SWAT team set up a perimeter around the residence.

Shortly after 4 p.m., the Blount SWAT team threw a flash bang, also known as a concussion bomb, onto the exterior of the house. Breaking glass from a window cut the arm of SWAT team member Brian Smith. Smith, 36, was taken to Blount Memorial Hospital where he was receiving stitches for the injury.

Smith has worked for the Blount County Sheriff's Office for nine years and has been on the SWAT team for almost two years.

A BCSO hostage phone was thrown into the residence in an attempt to coax the man into talking to one of his friends. They then discovered through a camera device that the man was lying dead on a couch in the residence.

Officers then entered the brick house.

Frank Murdoch, a neighbor of the man in the standoff, said the man had been depressed because he had to give away his dog, he and his girlfriend broke up and he was having a had hard time finding work. Murdoch described the man as a good neighbor who helped out and mowed other people's yards.

Murdoch said his neighbor, who was in his early 40's, had moved from California to the Lenoir City house a couple of years ago. He said the man lived alone in the house.

White said the man did not have a major criminal history in the city, and had no criminal history with the Loudon County Sheriff's Office.

White thanked the Loudon County Sheriff's Office, Blount County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Lenoir City Fire Department and Rural/ Metro Ambulance Service for their assistance in the matter. He said he appreciated the mutual aid agreement they have with the Blount County Sheriff's Office.