A Tennessee state trooper has been decommissioned after being charged with three counts of aggravated assault in a June 2 shooting incident in Grundy County.
Trooper Timothy Gene Johnson, 57, is facing charges filed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in connection with the shooting incident, which happened while Johnson was off duty, according to District Attorney Courtney C. Lynch.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol acknowledged the incident, providing Johnson’s employment status, but little else.
(READ MORE: Tennessee state trooper identified in Tracy City shooting investigation)
“We are aware of the arrest of Trooper Timothy Johnson in Grundy County related to an off-duty incident,” spokesperson Lt. Bill Miller said via email. “The Tennessee Highway Patrol decommissioned Trooper Johnson once we were aware of the incident.”
Johnson is now off the road, Miller said.
“He is on leave,” Miller said in a follow-up phone call. “He has had his credentials and his weapon decommissioned and taken away from him at this time pending the outcome of the investigation. As far as his pay status, I do not know.”
Pikeville, Tennessee, attorney Howard Upchurch is representing Johnson and was present when the trooper turned himself in.
“By agreement, we arranged for Trooper Johnson to be processed at the jail Wednesday morning,” Upchurch said by email. “I look forward to defending Trooper Johnson in this case. He is clearly not guilty.”
The incident happened around 8 p.m. CDT June 2 in the 200 block of Colyar Street in Tracy City, Lynch said in a June 4 email.
Charges were filed after Johnson was involved in a crash in the Tracy City area in which the driver of the other vehicle allegedly left the scene, the TBI said via email in an update on the case. Johnson allegedly pursued the other vehicle, made multiple attempts to ram it and fired his weapon, striking the other vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle wasn’t injured by the gunfire. The driver has not been named.
The pursuit ended when the victim lost control of his vehicle and crashed in the 1400 block of U.S. Highway 41, the TBI said. No one was injured by gunfire. Johnson was driving his personally owned vehicle at the time of the incident. Johnson was booked into Grundy County Jail on a $30,000 bond, and jail officials said Thursday he has since been released.
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While on duty in July 2022, Johnson was injured in an alleged attack during a traffic stop just outside Tracy City, according to Lynch. The stop involved a man riding an ATV, Austin Gage McHone, who allegedly struck Johnson’s patrol car with the ATV, according to a Highway Patrol statement and Grundy County authorities at the time. As Johnson attempted to take him into custody, McHone allegedly struck Johnson, and a lengthy struggle ensued, after which McHone allegedly fled the scene, later turning himself in on charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and felony evading arrest, all of which Lynch said are still pending in court.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.