Two Elizabethton police officers involved in a fatal shooting in mid-September will not face any charges, according to Ken Baldwin, district attorney general for the First Judicial District.
Jeffrey Michael Gibble, 33, of Johnson City, died following a shootout with police in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, police said.
Officers James Deese and Jesse Richardson encountered Gibble when they responded to a “suspicious person call” near Academy Street, according to a news release from Baldwin. Officers pursued Gibble on foot, and he fell to the ground. When Deese tried to restrain him, Gibble fired shots at the officers. The officers returned fire and fatally wounded Gibble, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, the release states. Neither officer was injured.
Baldwin concluded “there is no evidence to warrant any criminal activity on the part of the officers involved” after reviewing the evidence and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation case file for the shooting, according to the release.
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“This is a tragic situation that resulted in death,” Baldwin said.
The two officers are back on duty “after a set of shifts off to ensure their physical and emotional well-being was taken care of in addition to the investigation of this critical incident,” according to Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw. “I am appreciative of [District Attorney General] Baldwin’s handling of this incident. I also thank those that have supported and given prayers for our officers involved in this incident.”
