BCSO commends two for intervening after February shooting

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday, May 28 that Sheriff James Berrong had presented awards to two people who stopped to help his deputy the night she was wounded. Sandra Solomon and Ricky Williams each received the Citizen Service Commendation in recognition of their aid rendered to Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy Shelby Eggers.

“This commendation is awarded rarely and only to citizens who go above and beyond for their fellow man. Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough,” BCSO said in a release posted to Facebook. “We are grateful.”

Photos of the event show Berrong and Eggers alongside Solomon and Williams, as well as Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell.

According to the release, Solomon and Williams were driving home independently on Sevierville Road Feb. 8 when Eggers and her fellow Deputy Greg McCowan were shot during a traffic stop . Eggers was struck in the leg and treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, later relating her story in court .

McCowan was fatally wounded and later pronounced dead at Blount Memorial Hospital.

Deputies have since charged 42-year-old Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. of Alcoa with the shooting. He faces a 21-count indictment in Blount County Circuit Court with charges ranging from first-degree murder to failure to maintain a lane.

Video of the incident released days after the shooting shows Eggers returning fire as the shooter drives away before she approaches the road. Williams and Solomon, BCSO said, stopped to help her put a tourniquet on. Video shows a man and a woman helping Eggers stand, walk, and eventually get to a police cruiser when backup arrived.

In the release, BCSO praised the pair’s willingness to put their own lives at risk.

“Their actions are beyond valorous — neither individual knew the dangers they could face by stopping to help, but they stopped and helped anyway,” BCSO wrote.