In the summer of 2018, a domestic dispute in a quiet neighborhood in LaFollette, Tennessee, ended in a tragic loss of life. On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 25th, 54-year-old Rose Heatherly, a female, was shot and killed. The incident unfolded on Chapman Crest Road in the Powell Valley area, where deputies from the Campbell County Sheriff's Office were dispatched following reports of a shooting.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered that Rose Heatherly had been fatally wounded.
The suspect was quickly identified as her 64-year-old husband, Michael Heatherly. After shooting his wife, Michael Heatherly engaged in a brief standoff with the responding officers. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, he pointed a firearm at the officers, prompting one of the officers to fire their weapon.
Michael Heatherly was struck by the officer's gunfire and was subsequently transported to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The Campbell County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a deputy sheriff, an agent with the 8th Judicial Drug Task Force, and a Trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol were all involved in the incident. The officer who fired the fatal shot was placed on standard administrative leave with pay pending an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.
