Deputies broke into the home of an elderly Ooltewah man on Thursday morning to check on his well-being, and he ended up firing a gun until he could be convinced the officers were not burglars.
At 4:18 a.m., deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office responded to 9112 Anne St. They were called to assist Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services on a medical situation.
EMS was notified by Life Alert due to the medical panic button activated by the resident at this address. Repeated attempts were made by Emergency Medical Services on scene to contact someone in the home with no success. When deputies arrived at the scene, phone contact was then made to the resident's daughter, who advised she could not respond to the scene and for deputies to do whatever was necessary to gain entry to the home.
Deputies then forced the front door open and entered, calling out Sheriff’s Office while checking the residence. When they entered a hallway the figure of an elderly man was seen holding a handgun. He was asked repeatedly to drop the gun while deputies moved to a safer position. The man, identified as Cecil McDowell, 90, then walked to the front door of the residence and fired the weapon.
Dispatchers with Hamilton County 911 made contact with Mr. McDowell numerous times until he finally understood that it was law enforcement outside. He then put his weapon down and exited the residence.
Mr. McDowell had recently been a victim of burglary and theft and had mistakenly thought the deputies were intruders to his home, it was stated.
Janice Atkinson of the sheriff's office said, "The training and great restraint deputies used during this incident certainly averted an injury or death from occurring. As a matter of public service, anyone who has an elderly family member living alone or utilizes a medical alert system should take every precaution to have safety measures in place to avoid a similar situation from occurring."