Body camera footage released by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office shows a 20-minute gun battle during which two of its deputies were shot after responding to a welfare check call.
“I am releasing the following video synopsis of the assault on Deputy Corbin Smith and Deputy Edward Walker on June 11, 2024 on Jacob Springs Boulevard in Rockford,” said Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong on Facebook, attaching the video.
“I am doing so to ensure that my agency is transparent and open about the events that led up to this attack on these deputies,” he said. “I am grateful that Deputy Smith and Deputy Walker were not injured more seriously, and they are here with us today and recovering from their injuries. It is by the grace of God that they are with us today. I, as well as the men and women of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office remain committed to ensuring the suspect is swiftly, justly, and lawfully convicted of the crimes depicted here.”
As reported by The Tennessee Star, 59-year-old Ronald Millsaps is in custody after the shootout, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is investigating, as it does with all officer-involved shootings in the state.
Millsaps had active warrants for one count of Aggravated Domestic Assault, two counts of Attempted Criminal Homicide, six counts of Aggravated Assault, four counts of Reckless Endangerment, and one count of Especially Aggravated Kidnapping.
He was accused of threatening to kill a woman in the home before a SWAT team was dispatched to the scene.
The video shows Smith and Walker making contact with Millsaps when he opens the door that leads inside his home from his garage. Outside the open garage, the deputies instruct Millsaps to show them his hands before he retreats into the home.
“He just opened the door on us, we’ve got him at gunpoint,” one of the deputies says. “He ran back into the house.”
Mayhem ensued when Millsaps reemerged with a weapon and launched a volley of gunshots at the deputies, who had taken cover behind a squad car they had parked in a driveway across the street from Millsap’s home.
“We’re pinned down behind my vehicle taking shots,” one of the deputies relays to the dispatcher. “We have no visual.”
A second volley of shots passes the deputies without incident, but on a third volley, Walker is shot in the leg. Smith assists him by offering cover while he applies a tourniquet.
The pair takes more gunfire while Walker applies the tourniquet, and moments later, Smith is struck in the leg. While bleeding profusely, he applies a tourniquet to himself.
Both deputies remained engaged in the shootout, relaying information to dispatchers about Millsaps’ whereabouts despite their injuries.
When backup arrives, the deputies rush to secure a perimeter around the home while Millsaps engages other officers in gunfire. After several more minutes of gunfire, Millsaps is finally apprehended, and the injured deputies are extracted from the scene.
Millsaps was charged with aggravated assault, attempted criminal homicide, especially aggravated kidnapping, and reckless endangerment. He is being held on a $2.2 million bond.
Watch the full video:
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X/Twitter.
