A mugshot of Thomas Zane Campbell, posted on the Hamilton County Jail website Tuesday. His mother, Deborah Campbell, said this picture is from years earlier, when he had been arrested on another charge.Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies drove Thomas Zane Campbell from Erlanger hospital to the county jail Tuesday, a week after officers shot him multiple times.
But Campbell's mother, Deborah, said her son still belongs in a bed at Erlanger. She said he is recovering from seven gunshot wounds: one in each leg, one in his left arm and four in his right arm.
"We have no idea which doctor would release him in that condition," she said. " He's held together with rods and screws right now."
Officers shot Thomas Campbell on April 10 after members of the U.S. Marshals Service found him at a friend's home in Trion, Ga. He had been sentenced weeks earlier to 13 years in prison for three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, but he didn't show up to court for the end of his trial and had been missing since then.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the case, but has not released many details about what happened. His attorney, Charles Wright, said Wednesday that Thomas Campbell had placed a gun to his throat when officers arrived last week, and they shot him after a 15-minute standoff on the front porch of a friend's home. He said he doesn't know why they opened fire.
His parents said Campbell underwent 18 hours of surgeries over two days. Stitches and cuts from shrapnel weave through his arms and upper legs, and his right arm is bandaged from his shoulder to his hand. He has no feeling in his fingers. Doctors have replaced his kneecaps. And a metal plate sits where his right clavicle once did.
On Tuesday afternoon, Deborah Campbell said, Erlanger staff informed her that two deputies lifted her son into a wheelchair and carried him into the back of a patrol car. His father, Clarence Campbell, is particularly concerned about Thomas Campbell's right arm, where bullets hit him in the shoulder, upper arm, elbow and wrist.
He said hospital staff members told him that only the surgeon could handle the bandages around his right elbow.
"I was shocked," Wright said. "I would have expected [a move to the jail] a week or two from now. But this soon after getting shot seven times? My goodness. He just wasn't in any kind of shape to move.
"You don't get good medical treatment in the jail. They're not specialized in treating seven gunshot wounds and caring for someone like that. One little flub could endanger his life."
A spokeswoman for Erlanger legally could not comment on a doctor's approval of the move.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office was acting on an extradition request from Catoosa County, Ga., where a jury sentenced Thomas Campbell in March. Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said his agency handled the request like any other, alerting Hamilton County authorities that they had a fugitive wanted in Georgia.
From there, he said, the request rested in the hands of Erlanger and Thomas Campbell's doctors to decide when he should leave the hospital.
On Wednesday morning, Wright said, Judge Lila Statom postponed a Hamilton County Sessions Court hearing about whether to move Thomas Campbell to the Ringgold, Ga., jail. Wright said he wants a psychiatrist to evaluate his client's mental health.
He also said a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office staffer told Statom the jail's clinic was not equipped to handle Thomas Campbell - and that they needed to return him to Erlanger. Statom did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday, but Hamilton County court records show that a hearing in Thomas Campbell's case was re-scheduled to 1:30 this afternoon.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokesman Matt Lea said Wednesday he could not comment on whether the jail staff was going to transport Thomas Campbell back to the hospital.
Meanwhile, GBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Ramey said investigators have interviewed some members of the U.S. Marshals Service who were at the shooting scene in Trion earlier this week. But they have not yet talked to everybody involved.
Ramey and Wright also are coordinating a time for him to interview Campbell. Wright said his client often drifts into unconsciousness after about 15 minutes of talking.
On Wednesday, Deborah and Clarence Campbell said they have watched their son scream in his sleep at the hospital, apparently dreaming about the shooting. His father said Thomas Campbell can still smell the odor of hot bricks, shattered behind him by bullets that missed last week.
"He's nowhere close to being well," Clarence Campbell said.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.