Theft Suspect Fires Gun at Officers

By Jessie Williams 

Two men were arrested, and one was charged with attempted criminal homicide of a law enforcement officer, following a chain of events that took place after a Macon County resident reported a possible wreck on February 17, 2021. 

 

According to Detective Kevin Woodard of the Macon County Sheriffs Department, officers Jake Ayers and Jordan Davis responded to 1741 Hartsville Rd. around 1 a.m. to investigate the possible wreck, when they discovered a white, enclosed trailer with tire spin marks in the snow all around it. 

The officers followed the tire tracks and found a gold, Chevrolet truck, that appeared to be stuck, on the opposite side of a nearby creek. 

Ayers and Davis spoke with the man who reported the possible wreck to dispatch, and he stated that the two people in the truck ran when they saw him standing outside. 

Deputy Hunter Sullivan arrived on the scene at that time and contacted the landowner. The officer verified with the owner that the enclosed trailer was supposed to be located somewhere else on the property, which indicated an attempted theft. 

Two of the officers then began to track the two sets of footprints that led into the woodline, while the third officer remained at the scene.

While attempting to track the suspects, officers Davis and Sullivan found a pistol on the ground and then a black bag about 25 yards away, with paperwork inside belonging to 22-year-old Jere Green of Smithville, Tennessee. 

A live round was also found on the ground nearby. 

In about another 15 to 20 yards, the officers made contact with a male in a red, hooded sweatshirt, laying on the ground. 

The officers announced they were law enforcement and asked the man to show his hands, at which time he rolled over, raised a gun, and began firing. 

The two deputies took cover behind trees and returned fire before taking off down the hillside, taking cover there, and listening for movement. Thankfully, they were uninjured during the shootout.

Other law enforcement units began arriving at the scene, and they were briefed by Deputy Sullivan.

A perimeter was set up around the area with units staged on Rex Lane, Hunt Lane and Cherry’s Trailer Park, and officers cleared a few unoccupied trailers looking for the two suspects. 

A handgun was found by officers, under a rock, about 15 yards away from where the shooting took place.

At approximately 3:52 a.m. a caller living on Circle Dr. reported that a male subject had knocked on their door asking for directions and took off going towards Ferguson Hill Rd.

About five minutes later, Deputy Ayers made contact with the suspect at the intersection of Ferguson Hill and Heather Lane.

The man was dressed in dark clothing and was wearing boots. 

According to Detective Woodard, officers patted the man down for weapons when he began to resist. He was taken to the ground, detained and read his Miranda Rights. 

The man was identified as Jere Green and was believed to be the second suspect involved in the attempted theft, since he did not match the officers’ description of the shooter. 

Green was brought to the Macon County Sheriffs Office where he was interviewed, and his story was corroborated. He admitted to authorities that the recovered gun found by police while they were tracking the suspects, belonged to him, but also stated that he was far away from the scene when he heard the gunshots. 

After daylight broke that morning, officers returned to the scene to follow the second set of footprints and, at approximately 7:25 a.m., the suspect was found laying on the ground next to the building the enclosed trailer was stolen from. 

Officers approached him and asked him to show his hands. After refusing to do so, officers were able to take him down following a brief struggle. 

The man, identified as 46-year-old Chad Reynolds, refused to speak with officers.

Officers then began processing the scene of the shooting and located spent rounds and shell casings fired by the suspect and officers. The rounds fired at officers matched Reynolds’ gun, found under the rock near the scene of the shooting. 

Reynolds was positively identified as the shooter and was also wearing the same clothing described by officers at the time of the shooting.

Warrants were filed on both Reynolds and Green. 

Reynolds was charged with two counts of attempted criminal homicide of a law enforcement officer, unlawful possession of a weapon, two counts of reckless endangerment, evading arrest, resisting arrest, theft of property and criminal trespassing. 

Reynolds was also found to be wanted by metro authorities for theft and aggravated burglary.

Green was charged with possession of a firearm during a felony, license plate displayed on wrong vehicle, financial responsibility violation, theft of property, criminal trespassing, evading arrest, resisting arrest and driving without a license, 

They are both scheduled to appear in general sessions court on March 3, 2021. 

Assisting the Macon County Sheriff’s Department was the Lafayette Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. 

The property owner estimated the trailer and its contents were valued at around $13,000. 

The out-of-town owner of the farm on Hartsville Rd., said when he arrived in Macon County, there were law enforcement officers everywhere and they were aggressively tracking the suspects. 

“It was freezing cold outside and it was unbelievable how committed these officers were.  I was so pleased with the response. They were definitely taking this seriously and I thanked the ones I could, but they all deserve a big thank you.”

Macon County Sheriff Mark Gammons, who was also on the scene tracking the two men, would like to thank all of the officers and agencies involved for their hard work in this case.