The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 03:02 PM
Two In Custody After Nearly 100 Rounds Of Ammo Hit Homes In Powell
Deputies responded to the 8500 block of Jann Drive around 10:14 a.m. Sunday. The caller said his family was inside their home when a bullet came into the home striking a picture frame just 10 feet away from where his child was sitting on the couch. While at this residence, officers got a second call from another resident in the 8500 block of Jann Drive who said bullets had struck their home too.
Officers went to the second complainant's home, and while investigating the gunshots in the backyard, another round of gunfire erupted, hitting the tree line and the home for second time.
Following the direction of the gunfire, officers arrived at a home in the 8400 block of Pedigo Road. Officers said they found resident Ricky Hensley, 18, and 24-year-old Joshua Tucker of Oak Ridge inside the home, along with weapons lying in plain view in the living room.
The men allegedly admitted to police they were shooting a rifle and a pistol from the backyard, but there was no backstop to keep the bullets from flying into the nearby neighborhood. Officers said they canvased the neighborhood where the complaints came from, and found two unoccupied homes with bullet damage, along with one where the residents were home.
Both Hensley and Tucker were taken into custody, charged with two counts of reckless endangerment for firing a gun at occupied and unoccupied homes. Tucker bonded out, but Hensley is still being held at the Knox County Jail on a $40,000 bond.
The two suspects are set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. June 28.
