Man fatally shoots self after kidnapping and police chase starting at Buc-ee’s
Calhoun police were responding to a domestic call when the suspect shot at an officer.
By Shay Patterson
Click here for updates on this story
TENNESSEE (WRCB) — Calhoun Police Chief Tony Pyle says the man who shot at officers got to Buc-ee’s by kidnapping a woman and 10-year-old.
Pyle says the suspect, Robert Smith, went to a woman’s house in Atlanta and held her at gunpoint to drive him to Nashville. She started the drive with a ten-year-old on board as well.
They made a pitstop at Buc-ee’s in Calhoun around 4:00am where the woman hid in a bathroom.
The woman eventually was able to alert an employee at Buc-ee’s to call the police.
When police arrived, they tried to handcuff Smith, who escaped and fired shots at a Calhoun police officer. The officer was not injured and did not fire his weapon.
Smith then stole a truck and fled Calhoun Police.
“It was handled as well as it could have been,” said Chief Pyle.
Pyle says he’s grateful the incident happened at the time it did because there were fewer people at Buc-ee’s – a very popular road trip pit stop.
“It’s like an ant farm… if it had been at a busy time, someone would have got hurt,” says Pyle. He says they’ve never handled an issue “this extreme” at Buc-ee’s.
Smith continued north on Interstate 75 in the stolen vehicle, with Whitfield County deputies in pursuit. He fired several shots out the car window, but didn’t hit any deputies.
Soon afterward, the vehicle lost control. Smith was later found to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Pyle says Smith was from the Chattanooga area but frequented Atlanta and Nashville.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
