Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said as the deputy and officer were getting out of the vehicle, the subject came out of the house and began firing at the officers.
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UPDATE 7:30 p.m. Friday: Blount County authorities suspect the man charged in the killing of a Maryville police officer was setting up law enforcement “for an ambush”.
Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said he wished officers could “turn back the clock” to their initial encounter with Stalans and take him into custody to prevent the second fatal run-in from happening.
Moats and a Blount County deputy – both members of a local drug task force – responded to the call and brought the father to safety. He was not immediately named because authorities were still trying to reach relatives that were out of town, Crisp said. The alleged domestic disturbance was between Brian Keith Stalans and his father, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Officers paid their respects to the slain officer during a Friday procession.. The man gave up after shooting the officer, the chief said. Moats was wearing a bullet proof vest but the bullet struck him above the line of protection.
Officer Moats started working for the Maryville Police Department in February 2007.
The officer was pronounced dead at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
“It was definitely more than one shot – multiple gunshots”, he said.
Crisp told a news conference outside the hospital: ‘We ask our citizens to remember this officer’s family and his three small children’.
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As of now, 38 law enforcement officers have been shot and killed this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
