Wanted man shot by Etowah, Tenn., police dies at hospital

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Arkansas-North Carolina Live Blog

ETOWAH, Tenn. -- An armed man who confronted Etowah police Monday night on U.S. Highway 411 suffered gunshot wounds and later died at UT Medical Center in Knoxville.

The man later was identified as 49-year-old David Greenwood, who was wanted by the Robertson County Sheriff's Office following a "suspicious" house fire over the weekend and the death of his girlfriend, Kim Moran, in Pleasant View, Tenn., a town 20 miles south of the Kentucky line.

According to a Robertson County Sheriff's Office release, Moran was found dead inside the couple's house at 2526 Jack Teasley Road over the weekend, and Greenwood was missing. He remained so until Monday night.

"The search for him is obviously over," said Ryan Martin, public information officer for the sheriff's department.

Somehow, Greenwood wound up on the wrong side of two Etowah officers' guns, more than 200 miles away from the burned house he had been renting and his dead girlfriend.

"He obviously had some answers we wanted," Martin said.

The Etowah Police Department released a statement Tuesday evening rehashing the events that led up to Greenwood's death. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation news release fills in some of the gaps.

McMinn County dispatchers issued a warning to look out for a possible drunken driver around state Highway 30 heading toward Etowah. Greenwood was stopped by police. He backed into a police cruiser and took off, officers tailing him.

A short distance away, Greenwood stopped his vehicle along the 800 block of U.S. 411 and came out with a gun. He and two Etowah officers faced off and fired at each other.

The officers were not hit, but Greenwood sustained fatal wounds.

The two Etowah officers are on paid leave, according to Etowah city policy. TBI agents are investigating the shooting.

And maybe the only person who could explain how it all shook out -- two separate incidents, two deaths, 200 miles apart -- is gone. And with Greenwood, the answers.

"Well, that's why we wanted to question him," said Martin.

Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.