HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Hendersonville police officer has been released from the hospital and the hunt for the man accused of shooting him is over after the suspect was shot and killed by police Tuesday evening in Kentucky.
Kentucky State Police located Samuel Quinton Edwards, 34, near Louisville. Following a police chase and shootout, Edwards was pronounced dead.
Police say Edwards shot and injured a Hendersonville police officer Monday night during a police pursuit. The officer sustained non-critical injuries and was treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Shortly after the shooting, officials say Edwards abandoned his van on Gibson Drive in Madison and fled on foot.
Moments later, Edwards was caught on home surveillance cameras, carrying two guns.
“I was terrified for them, with those two giant guns and he looked really close to their front door,” said Ann Richardson.
Richardson, who is one of the founders of the Madison Neighborhood Watch Facebook group, told News 2 that after alerts went out about an armed suspect, she immediately locked her doors.
“We got up and made sure all the doors were locked, and we even have bars we keep in the doors for extra security,” Richardson said. “This was about a mile and a half from here. […] so, this is the closest this kind of situation has happened.”
Police say Edwards then stole a white Chevy Silverado pickup truck that had front bumper damage, a missing front grill and multiple dents on the body.
The stolen pickup was located on Cycle Lane off of Bethel Road in Millersville early Tuesday morning. This led to a major manhunt through Millersville on Tuesday.
A number of agencies then responded to the scene, some with guns drawn including police from Millersville, Hendersonville and Metro, deputies from the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department, Metro’s aviation unit, as well as search and rescue bloodhounds.
The bloodhounds followed the scent of the suspect to a tree line by I-65 at Bethel Road, and that’s when the manhunt moved to that area, shutting down the interstate for hours.
Drivers there saw numerous law enforcement officials with guns drawn while the dogs sniffed the tree line to mile marker 103. However, the dogs lost the scent there, ending the search Tuesday afternoon.
The TBI considered Edwards armed and very dangerous and issued a Blue Alert for him on Tuesday stating that he was wanted for attempted criminal homicide and evading arrest.