Evidence in McMinn County shooting will go to grand jury

Ambulance personnel and McMinn County Sheriff's Office investigators are shown on the scene of a shooting on County Road 82 in Riceville, Tenn., on Monday. Authorities said Christopher Mackey of Arkansas was shot at least once at the residence of Paul Brent Burgess during an altercation at Burgess' home.
Ambulance personnel and McMinn County Sheriff's Office investigators are shown on the scene of a shooting on County Road 82 in Riceville, Tenn., on Monday. Authorities said Christopher Mackey of Arkansas was shot at least once at the residence of Paul Brent Burgess during an altercation at Burgess' home.

Evidence collected in Monday's shooting of an Arkansas man by a McMinn County, Tenn., homeowner will go to the grand jury for a determination of wrongdoing.

Christopher Mackey of Arkansas was in serious condition at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said. Mackey had been shot at least once by County Road 82 resident Paul Brent Burgess of Riceville. The men's ages are unknown.

No charges have been filed against either man.

Guy said evidence in the shooting investigation, as well as evidence sent to the TBI crime lab for analysis, will be presented to the McMinn County grand jury soon. The next meeting of the grand jury is June 20, but Guy said there was no certainty that all the evidence sent to the crime lab would be back by then.

Burgess was known to invite people he'd met through the biking community to stay with him at his home in McMinn County, Guy said.

That was the case with Mackey and "everything had been fine for a while," Guy said.

"Some women evidently got in the mix and some allegations of theft got thrown up, so he kicked them out [Monday]," the sheriff said Tuesday. "Then the Mackey guy decides he's going back to talk to him. It's all on video. They have some words, then they had a physical altercation that turns into the homeowner defending himself with a gun and Mackey gets shot."

The two men were the only people present at the time of the shooting, Guy said.

Investigators are not going to make the official call on whether Burgess shot Mackey in self-defense or whether the homeowner should face charges, Guy said. He said Mackey also could be charged depending on how the grand jury interprets the evidence in the case. Home security video of the incident will be part of the evidence presented.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6569.

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