2 Tennessee officers shot, robbery suspect killed in exchange of gunfire, state official says

HOHENWALD, Tenn. – Two Tennessee law enforcement officials were shot and an 18-year-old robbery suspect was killed during an exchange of gunfire, officials said.

The shooting in Hohenwald, about 80 miles southwest of Nashville, was first reported around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine told media outlets.

Two Hohenwald police officers and two Lewis County sheriff’s deputies were responding to a robbery call at a residence, where the homeowner had been stabbed and guns and money had been taken, according to a TBI statement from DeVine.

The statement said the homeowner wasn’t seriously injured and called police, who encountered the suspect on their way to the home to investigate. The statement also said the officers attempted to stop Allen Quintez Swader, who fit the description of the suspect, but the situation escalated and an exchange of gunfire broke out.

DeVine says Hohenwald police officer Robert Allen Carroll was hit in the chest but was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was treated at the scene. Lewis County Deputy Robbie Hooks was flown to a Nashville hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for at least two gunshot wounds.

Lewis County Sheriff Dwayne Kilpatrick said on Friday afternoon he was preparing to drive to Nashville to see the deputy. “I spoke to him and he’s in high spirits,” Kilpatrick said.

Swader was fatally shot. An investigation is ongoing.

The TBI said it would turn over its findings to the local district attorney general for review.