A Northeast Alabama community is mourning the death of an 18-year-old Pisgah High School senior who was killed Tuesday in an officer-involved shooting.
A deputy responding to a disturbance call on County Road 60 around 5 p.m. CST Tuesday found Alex Christopher Davis on top of a car, beating the windows out of it, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
The deputy fired all of his stun gun charges at Davis, who then pulled the prongs from his skin and charged at the deputy with a 3-foot-long board. The deputy then fired his service weapon in self defense, said Rocky Harnen, Jackson County Sheriff's Office chief deputy. Most stun guns have only two cartridges, Harnen said.
Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.
Harnen declined to say how many shots the deputy fired from his handgun.
"We later found out [Davis] had quite severely injured a man inside with a piece of wood," Harnen said. The piece of wood might have been an axe handle or similar tool handle, he said.
Harnen said the resident told authorities he didn't know Davis.
The State Bureau of Investigation said Wednesay afternoon it is investigating the incident. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is also investigating, Harnen said.
The deputy, meanwhile, is on administrative leave with pay until he is cleared to return to work, Harnen said.
"He'll need several days for this," Harnen said.
He said the incident also was a tragedy for Davis' family.
"It's unfortunate, sad," Harnen said.
While Alabama authorities investigate the officer-involved shooting incident in Pisgah, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents on Tuesday probed two other officer-involved shootings in Tennessee in the towns of Mount Pleasant in Maury County and Rockwood in Roane County.
In Maury County, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville, a Mount Pleasant officer tried to stop a suspected DUI driver shortly before 9 p.m. CST, according to the TBI.
TBI officials said the driver didn't immediately stop and instead led the officer on a brief pursuit that ended at the intersection of Mount Joy Road and South Main Street.
There the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Bradley Ross Nelson, got out of his vehicle and brandished a weapon. The situation further escalated and resulted in the officer firing his weapon, striking the subject, who later died from his injuries at Maury Regional Medical Center, the TBI said. No law enforcement officers were injured.
In Roane County, officers with the Rockwood Police Department were watching for 58-year-old Harriman resident Quintin Swicegood, who had been reported to be possibly suicidal.
About 1:30 p.m. EST, Rockwood police received information that Swicegood was in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart on North Gateway Avenue, TBI officials said in a statement.
Preliminary information shows the officers arrived and made contact with Swicegood, who produced a handgun, the TBI said.
The situation escalated, resulting in one Rockwood officer and Swicegood firing their weapons. At least one bullet struck Swicegood, killing him. Though it initially appeared Swicegood died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an autopsy will be performed at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville as part of the ongoing investigation, officials said.
Investigations are ongoing in all three incidents, officials said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.