Helicopter, K9 Units Help Catch Clay County Shooter

Authorities from multiple agencies across the Upper Cumberland pitched in to help capture a man in connection a Clay County shooting Monday.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Captain R.C. Christian said they assisted through the air by providing a helicopter to help search for the suspect.

“I called for air support before I even left Cookeville coming up here,” Christian said. “Our pilot here and the helicopter in the air is just another asset to us and he was able to pick up on a spot here and was kind of checking it.”

Authorities were able to track down the suspect who reportedly shot three people at a residence along North Fork Road. The shooting left a juvenile dead and two adults injured.

Christian said the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit helped by tracking down the suspect once the helicopter was able to locate him.

“The K-9s are tremendous and there was such a lot of growth and brush in that area, he could’ve easily hidden,” Christian said. “It’s just impressive when you see all these agencies come together to relinquish and get this done quickly, and also get this suspect in custody quickly.”

Christian said the THP and other agencies were prepared to help when they received the call to assist officials in Clay County.

“Our goal was to get resources here for Sheriff (Brandon) Boone,” Christian said. “We’re very mindful of providing any service we can to our local agencies, and our relationship with Sheriff Boone is tremendous. Our biggest goal was to get enough troopers here to set up a perimeter and that proved to be successful.”

Christian said having the helicopter help in these situations, especially when ground teams are searching in rural areas.

“They’re just able to cover so much more ground than the ground units can, but they can also direct our guys and our troopers where they need to go,” Christian said. “It’s found people that we would’ve looked hours for in a matter of minutes. They’re just very confident pilots that we have and  Ican’t brag on them enough because they’re the ones that make this happen.”

The suspect’s identity has not been released as of yet nor have the identities of the shooting victims. The TBI is still investigating the situation.