TBI Special Agents Investigating Officer-Involved Shooting in White County

Updated 4/14/17 at 7:37 p.m.: The deceased individual has been identified as Michael Zennie Dial II, DOB 12/7/1983, from Clarksville, TN.

Updated 4/14/17 at 9:44 a.m.: All three officers have been released from the hospital.

Updated 4/14/17 at 9:21 a.m.: An autopsy is being performed on the deceased individual to determine his identity. This site will be updated as that information becomes available.

At the request of District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway, TBI Special Agents  are investigating the circumstances that led to an officer-involved shooting that occurred Thursday night in White County.

Preliminary reports indicate the incident began around 4:30pm with an attempted traffic stop by Smithville Police Department officers in DeKalb County. Officers attempted to stop a pickup truck hauling a trailer. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop, and the pursuit continued on into White County. Deputies with the White County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Sparta Police Department continued north on Highway 111, following the vehicle. The driver of the truck crashed into several of the law enforcement vehicles, hitting them on the side, and from behind.

At some point, the tires of the trailer appeared to have flattened, dumping some of the items from the trailer into the median.

As the driver continued down the road, two officers, one with the White County Sheriff’s Office , and one with the Sparta Police Department, fired shots toward the truck.

The truck, still hauling the trailer, veered off the highway, went down an embankment, and lodged in the tree line. The driver of the vehicle is deceased. He has not yet been positively identified.

Three officers, one from Sparta PD and two from the White County Sheriff’s Office, sustained injuries consistent with being in a vehicle crash and have been transported to the hospital.

As per TBI policy, we do not release the names of the officers involved in officer-involved shootings, and defer to the local agencies to provide that information as they see fit.

TBI Special Agents are continuing to investigate at the scene and interview witnesses, and the case remains active and ongoing. At the conclusion of this investigation, investigative case file will be turned over to the District Attorney General for his office’s review.

As we have any updates we were able to provide, they will be included on this newsroom blog.