One person is injured and another person is dead after a shooting Friday night in Friendsville, according to the Blount County Sheriff’s Office.
BCSO said deputies and investigators responded to the scene around 8:15 p.m. for the call of a shooting at a residence on Quarry Hollow Road. When they arrived, they found two men waiting for them outside, one of whom was suffering from a gun shot wound to his ear.
After deputies administered first aid to the injured man, the two told deputies that Jeffrey “Scott” West, 68, of Friendsville and the injured man were arguing inside the residence when West pulled out a gun and shot at the victim, grazing his right ear. The victim and the other witness then fled outside and called 911.
According to BCSO, the witnesses told deputies that West may have fled out the back door of the home before law enforcement arrived.
Members of the sheriff’s office’s Crisis Negotiations and SWAT teams, with the help of the Maryville Police Department SWAT team, arrived at the scene and began attempting to negotiate with West. When those efforts failed, the sheriff’s office said deputies deployed a K-9 into the residence just before 11 p.m. and discovered West dead from an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
West was pronounced dead at the scene by AMR Ambulance Service Personnel. BCSO said West was sent for an autopsy at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
No officers were injured during the incident. The victim who was shot in the ear was taken to UT Medical Center by AMR with non-life-threatening injuries.
