At the request of 6th Judicial District Attorney General Charme Allen, TBI agents are investigating the circumstances leading to an officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday evening in Knox County.
Preliminary information indicates that just before 5:00 p.m., deputies with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to the parking lot of a business located along Central Avenue Pike in Knoxville after locating the vehicle of a woman who had previously reported she was being followed and in danger. Upon arrival, the woman, identified as Ginger Phillips (DOB: 6/19/68), was observed inside her vehicle, armed with a gun, and threatening to harm herself. Knox County deputies made contact with Phillips and attempted to convince her to step out of her vehicle. Negotiations continued for several hours, with no success. Just before 11:00 p.m., for reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in two Knox County deputies firing shots, striking Phillips. She was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
TBI agents are working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews. Throughout the process, investigative findings will be shared with the District Attorney General for her further review and consideration. The TBI acts solely as fact-finders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters. That decision rests with the District Attorney General requesting TBI’s involvement.
The TBI does not identify the officers involved in these types of incidents and instead refers questions of that nature to the respective department to answer as it sees fit…