A Tennessee district attorney was charged Monday for reportedly firing at wanted murder suspects as they fled from police, unintentionally hitting a house where a woman and her three children were present.
Chris Stanford, district attorney for Tennessee’s 31st Judicial District, was indicted on Monday for reckless endangerment and firing a weapon into an occupied home. The charges stem from a November shooting in Smithville, that happened when he tried to apprehend three suspects connected to a triple homicide, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Warren and DeKalb County deputies were pursuing suspects Caleb Dias Brookins, 28, Hannah McKenzi Rose, 21, and Jessica Root, 28. While chasing them in DeKalb County. Sanford, 43, joined deputies and a Homeland Security officer.
Rose and Brookins allegedly hit the officer with their car, injuring his leg, just before the shooting occurred, according to police.
“On Nov. 21, agents began investigating the incident involving 31st Judicial District Attorney General Christopher Robert Stanford,” TBI said Monday.
“The investigation revealed that, during the pursuit of a wanted fugitive, Stanford fired a gun several times on Bell Street in Smithville, striking a home occupied by a woman and her three children.”
Stanford was indicted in a special session of the DeKalb County Grand Jury on Monday, the Smithville Review reports. He later surrendered at the DeKalb County Jail and was freed after posting a $10,000 bond.
[Feature Photo: Christopher Stanton/ Rigjt: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office); Left: 31st Judicial District]
