The Knoxville Police Department has released the pertinent body-camera footage from the police shooting that happened in the 2600 block of Fairview Street last Tuesday.
Just before 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, Knox County 9-1-1 received multiple calls concerning an active disturbance involving a man armed with an axe. Minutes later, KPD officers Eric Smith and Alexandra Burns arrived at the scene and confronted the subject of that disturbance, who has since been identified as 52-year-old Christopher Arons. Arons was armed with a small axe.
After shots were fired, responding officers rendered medical aid until emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene and transported Arons to the UT Medical Center for further treatment. Arons is expected to recover from his injuries.
Arons has since been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of vandalism.
The video release includes one of the 9-1-1 calls and body-camera footage that begins upon Officer Smith’s arrival at the scene. The video shows graphic images that could be disturbing to some viewers and viewer discretion is advised.
The shooting is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, per standard protocol, while the KPD’s Office of Professional Standards is also conducting an internal administrative investigation. Both of those investigations are still ongoing. Officers Smith and Burns remain on routine administrative leave.
Per department policy, in the event of a critical incident, the Office of Public Information in coordination with the Technical Services Unit and other appropriate department personnel, will immediately begin preparing a video of said incident for public release. The purpose of the video release is to inform the community of the circumstances that led to the incident in a timely fashion. The department strives to release critical incident video to the public as expeditiously as possible, in coordination with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.