Tue
May 20 2008
04:21 pm
KPD officer shot
By: R. Neal

A Knoxville Police Officer has been shot at a residence on Rockbridge Lane in Northwest Knoxville.. The officer was taken to UT Hospital. A manhunt is underway for the shooter or shooters.

WVLT says the officer was shot multiple times in the chest and was not wearing a vest. They have a preliminary description of the suspects.

WBIR has ongoing updates.

UPDATE: WATE says the officer was conscious when taken to UT Hospital. The first ambulance overheated on I-640 and he had to be transferred to another ambulance.

UPDATE: WBIR identifies the KPD officer and has more details on the shooting and more information on two or possibly three suspects and two vehicles police are searching for.

UPDATE: News reports say KPD Officer Norman Rickman is in stable condition and officials are optimistic about his recovery. One news report confirms he was not wearing a vest. This is the second time he has been shot in the line of duty. He is also a Desert Storm veteran. Officer Rickman sounds like one tough hombre. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

UPDATE: WATE says three men detained for questioning. KNS says eight detained. WBIR says nine men detained.

UPDATE: WBIR says Officer Rickman is out of surgery and his condition is described as "critical" by KPD Chief Sterling Owen IV.

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Opinari's picture

I hope they find...

Submitted by Opinari on Tue, 2008/05/20 - 4:51pm.

the SOBs soon. My mom lives very close to that subdivision.

bizgrrl's picture

I hope he makes it. I thank

Submitted by bizgrrl on Tue, 2008/05/20 - 4:59pm.

I hope he makes it. I thank everyone who does that job. They keep us safe as best they can while putting themselves in harms way.

CathyMcCaughan's picture

An hour or so ago,

Submitted by CathyMcCaughan on Tue, 2008/05/20 - 6:14pm.

An hour or so ago, Cumberland Estates was blocked off. I don't know if they were keeping residents out or just searching.

The ambulance overheated? Get that man a helicopter!

Joe Hultquist's picture

I went by the hospital this evening.

Submitted by Joe Hultquist on Wed, 2008/05/21 - 12:45am.

I got there around 9:30 and talked to his wife as well as several KPD officers and chaplains. Nothing had changed at that point, and it could take a while before he's completely out of the woods. He lost a lot of blood, and a call has gone out for donations on his behalf at Medic (he won't have to pay for the donated blood, is my understanding).

rikki's picture

I heard a police officer say

Submitted by rikki on Wed, 2008/05/21 - 7:45am.

I heard a police officer say Rickman was shot when he initially encountered the burglars, then they shot him once while he was down. Shooting a police officer is bad enough; shooting a wounded officer on the ground is heinous.

On a more positive note, it seems quite likely the nurse who came to his aid saved his life. KNS reports that his name is Tim Hall.

Officer Rickman needs our prayers to recover from this trauma.

Pam Strickland's picture

Yeah, definite props to the

Submitted by Pam Strickland on Wed, 2008/05/21 - 11:23am.

Yeah, definite props to the nurse, when I read that in KNS story I had to think it made the difference. That many bullets had to mean a lot of blood. And the neighbor who just ran out to help when he saw Rickman shot. There are people who would have stayed away because of the armed bandits. I'm very thankful for people still willing to be Good Samaritans in modern day America.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

talidapali's picture

I'm so sorry this happened...

Submitted by talidapali on Wed, 2008/05/21 - 11:44am.

and I know that the police chief said it was the officer's choice whether or not to wear a vest, but I wish he had been wearing his vest. I hope he recovers swiftly.

There are folks out there that would just as soon shoot you deader'n hell than to look at you if you're a cop...sad but true. Vests save lives.

_________________________________________________
"You can't fix stupid..." ~ Ron White"
"I never said I wasn't a brat..." ~ Talidapali

Pam Strickland's picture

On one of the TV stations

Submitted by Pam Strickland on Wed, 2008/05/21 - 12:40pm.

On one of the TV stations last night they had an interview w/ him while he was recovering from the first time he was shot on duty. He said that his wife had given him orders that he had to wear the vest from now on. They didn't have any info on whether he had indeed worn it over the years or why he didn't have it on yesterday.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

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