UPDATE: Police identify man they shot to death Tuesday night as Hamilton County corrections officer [video]

Crime scene of officer-involved shooting at 300 block of Shawnee Trail.
Crime scene of officer-involved shooting at 300 block of Shawnee Trail.
photo Daniel Hendrix

UPDATE: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that Daniel Hendrix, 26, was killed Tuesday night by Chattanooga police. Hendrix was a corrections officer for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

Hendrix was celebrating his birthday with two off-duty female police officers when he became "enraged," picked up a personal firearm and began to threaten the women, said TBI spokesman Josh Devine.

Both of the officers were able to flee the home and one called 911. Two additional Chattanooga police officers arrived on scene and found Hendrix holding the weapon, but he refused to comply with verbal commands to drop the weapon and one of the responding officers fired at him four times.

The officers then began to give him medical aid until he was transported by HCEMS, but he died at Erlanger.

The firearm believed to have been used by Hendrix has been recovered by authorities, but it was unclear whether he ever fired it.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond and members of the HCSO Command Staff have been notified of the shooting.

He had been with the HCSO since July 2013. Hendrix in 2015 had been charged with assaulting a female inmate, who officials say had become combative as she was transported to Silverdale detention center.

"The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office would like to offer its condolences to the family of our Corrections Deputy and our prayers are with those involved in this unfortunate incident," said Sheriff Jim Hammond in a statement.

"At this time, District Attorney Neal Pinkston has requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to investigate the incident so the HCSO and the CPD may remain neutral."

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NEIGHBORS REACT: On Wednesday morning investigators worked behind crime scene tape blocking off the street with a patrol car parked lengthwise to block traffic. A crime scene truck could be seen parked down the street and officers were interviewing neighbors on porches.

Anita Franklin, a neighbor who lives on Shawnee Trail said she had just come home from work when she heard the gunshots.

"It sounded like it was right in my yard," she said. "I didn't even look out the window."

She said she heard five or six loud gunshots in rapid succession and cut off all the lights in her home because she thought multiple people were shooting at each other.

The next morning, her brother called her once he saw the news to make sure she was alright. All of this has been a shock for Franklin who said the neighborhood is typically quiet and safe.

"We don't have that kind of stuff over here," she said. "I hate to hear that someone lost their life."

A woman who asked to remain nameless said she was awake when the shooting happened too and agreed with Franklin that there were five or six loud gunshots.

"I was sitting up reading thinking, 'you need to put this book down so you can go to work tomorrow," she said.

"I put that book down after that."

Robert Shepard, another neighbor who lives down the street from Franklin, said his dog Chloe woke him up after the shooting with her incessant barking.

A resident of the neighborhood for 45 years, he said he'd never heard of anything like this happening in his community.

"It makes me feel like there are too many guns around," he said.

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ORIGINAL STORY: A Hamilton County Sheriff's Office employee was shot and killed by Chattanooga police in an overnight shooting Wednesday morning.

Hamilton County 911 received a call for a disorder with a weapon involved at the 300 block of Shawnee Trail around 1:30 a.m. Hamilton County 911 informed officers that at least one shot was fired prior to officers arrival on scene.

When CPD officers arrived on scene they encountered two off duty CPD officers that left the residence, while another group of CPD officers encountered an armed suspect outside the home, according to a CPD release.

Officers were forced to shoot the armed suspect, police say.

CPD officers provided the armed suspect with medical aid after he'd been shot while they waited for an ambulance. The suspect was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Police Chief of Staff David Roddy could not provide many details on the nature of the incident, as it is an open investigation being led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He said the two officers who were found leaving the residence had been involved in calling 911 to report the disorder and identified themselves as officers.

When asked if the off-duty officers were at the home for a party or some other event, Roddy said the circumstances were unclear.

"It looked like some officers were gathered together, but the purpose of why they were together or for what intent, we do not know," he said. He also could not comment on the weapon being held by the HCSO employee or whether alcohol was involved.

TBI will be handling the investigation moving forward, but Roddy said any available resources they can provide will be given to both TBI and the HCSO.

"Any support that we can give them not only through interviews but processing the scene itself," he said.

The suspect's name has not yet been released. The investigation is ongoing.

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