The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a man who was shot and killed by a police officer in East Ridge early Friday evening.
At 9 p.m., investigators were still on scene, stepping around yellow evidence markers scattered over the driveway of a home in the 1700 block of Prigmore Road.
The incident began at an AutoZone on Ringgold Road around 6 p.m. when East Ridge police responded to a report of a man wielding a knife there, according to Matt Lea, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
The suspect, who has not been identified, was then located outside the home on Prigmore Road, but when he was addressed by an officer, he began refusing commands. He allegedly approached the officer with a weapon, prompting the officer to fire, Lea said.
He was later pronounced dead.
Several witnesses at the scene Friday evening said they saw the shooting and were adamant the officer had fired four shots at the man with a rifle.
Alec Long lives several doors down from the scene and said he was taking groceries inside with his son when he saw a police car coming down the street. He came outside in time to see the officer on the driver's side of the vehicle, aiming a rifle over the hood of his car at the man.
"He told him, 'Don't come off your property or I'll shoot you,'" Long said.
Long said the man was yelling incoherently and ignored those orders, instead running at the officer, who shot him four times in the chest.
"He fell straight back," he said. "I'm still shaking."
Long said he didn't see anything in the man's hands, but another witness who asked not to be named said he was sitting in a car nearby and witnessed the shooting. He said the man had a stick or pipe in his hand that he was using to hit the ground before being shot.
"He hit the ground with his stick and then the officer put four in him," he said.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow on Twitter @emmettgienapp.