Heavy law enforcement presence at the Justice Center on Monday… Photo by Barry West
We have an update on the two deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department that were shot at the county justice center on Monday afternoon.
Wendell Bowen is at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga where he underwent over 5 hours of surgery Monday night and is still in the intensive care unit, while Wade Bassett is at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville awaiting surgery on his hand, which at last report is planned for some time this week.
Yesterday afternoon District Attorney General Craig Northcott said an inmate identified as 37-year-old Michael Eugene Bell was in the courthouse for a scheduled hearing on charges of domestic-related kidnapping, evading arrest and other charges.
Just before 3:00 PM, Coffee County Deputy Bassett went into the holding cell on the third floor of the Coffee County Justice Center to take inmate Bell back to the Coffee County Jail. As the deputy prepared to get Bell for transport, Bell attacked him, and the two engaged in a significant struggle. The inmate was able to gain control of the deputy’s weapon, and shot Deputy Bassett one time before fleeing down the stairs. When he got to the first floor, Bell shot Deputy Wendell Bowen, on his way out the door.
After fleeing the Justice Center, Bell ran about a block away, entered and then exited a home on Madison Street. He then fled to a yard at an adjacent home, where he was found deceased from a self-inflected gunshot wound to the head.
The Coffee County Justice Center offices will reopen on Wednesday, but there will be no court.
