Hamilton County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man they suspected of stealing a car after he fired at officers Thursday morning, Sheriff Austin Garrett said.
One deputy was shot in the exchange, which came after deputies chased the man three separate times Thursday.
The deputy was taken to Erlanger hospital for treatment and does not appear to have life-threatening injuries, Garrett said.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Garrett. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation later identified the suspect as Damean Jones, 26, of Chattanooga.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga police respond to gunfight, two injured)
A deputy found the suspect driving a reportedly stolen car out of Catoosa County, Georgia, around 5 or 5:30 Thursday morning, Garrett said at the scene. During a short chase after the man did not stop, he fired out of his car toward deputies, according to a statement from the Sheriff's Office, and got away.
"He was pretty intent on getting away and didn't care who he endangered in the process," Garrett said.
Garrett later found the car at a Motel 6 on Bonny Oaks Drive, the sheriff said, but deputies lost it again after a second chase.
The final chase went through downtown Chattanooga around 9 a.m., before the suspect appeared to crash at the corner of Lindsay Street and M.L. King Boulevard. Sheriff's deputies, Chattanooga police officers and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were all involved in that chase, Garrett said at the scene.
"There was an exchange of gunfire," Garrett told reporters around 10 a.m. Thursday. "The suspect was hit, as well as one of my deputies."
Two people near the scene said the car, a white Kia sedan, crashed at Lindsay Street shortly before 9 a.m. They said they had spoken to others who heard shots around that time but hadn't heard shots themselves.
A Chattanooga Times Free Press photographer saw multiple apparent bullet holes in the windshield of the Kia and another car at the scene.
The shooting investigation has been handed over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, at the direction of Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp. Wamp will decide whether to bring charges against whoever fired the fatal shots after TBI completes its report, according to standard protocol for law enforcement shootings.
"Reports from the scene indicate the driver got out of the vehicle, brandished a firearm and exchanged shots with law enforcement officers," a statement from TBI said Thursday.
Wamp and Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy were also at the scene Thursday and declined to answer questions.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga police: 18-year-old man shot multiple time Monday evening)
Garrett said Thursday that the suspect was alone in the car during the chases and no other suspects were involved in the case.
Public court records show Jones has faced other charges of theft and burglary at least four times in the past five years. Other charges brought against him in Hamilton County during that time include drug possession, assault, evading arrest and several driving violations.
There were no active warrants for his arrest in Hamilton County as of Thursday, a search of the county's warrant list indicates.
"We were pursuing him because he was in a stolen vehicle out of Catoosa County, and then when he fired on our deputies, we were intent on finding him," Garrett said. "And find him we did."
M. L. King Boulevard was closed Thursday morning between Georgia and Houston streets, and sidewalks were roped off on both sides of the street.
The Sheriff's Office is not releasing the name of the injured deputy at this time, spokesman Matt Lea said in an email Thursday.
"I am very grateful our deputy only sustained non-life threatening injuries and was not killed while trying to protect our community and take this individual into custody," Garrett said in a statement from the office.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.