Sevier County, TN (WOKI) A Sevier County man is in custody and a shooting victim is hospitalized following a two-hour standoff Friday with multiple law enforcement agencies in Sevier County.
Officials with the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office say 35-year-old Eric Coates is the suspect in the shooting of 60-year-old Mark Kennard inside a home in the 200 block of Asheville Highway. Three other people were in the home at the time of the shooting, according to SCSO officials.
SCSO says responding officers arrived on scene to find Kennard shot multiple times and Coates, armed, in a car in the home’s driveway saying he had an explosive which reportedly sparked the standoff.
Other teams, including the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team, Sevier County Interagency Bomb Squad and others responded to the scene during the standoff.
Coates was eventually subdued by CS gas, a type of tear gas, deployed by the Hazardous Devices Units which also responded to the scene; after which, Coates was taken into custody, according to SCSO officials.
Coates was charged with four counts of attempted first degree murder and an outstanding failure to appear warrant.
Kennard was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he is in stable condition.
