2 officers shot in Hohenwald, suspect dead

Two law enforcement officials were shot Thursday night in Lewis County and a suspect involved in the exchange of gunfire was killed, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The shooting happened in the town of Hohenwald, about an hour and a half southwest of Nashville.

TBI spokesperson Josh DeVine said the shooting was first reported around 7:30 p.m. outside a tire shop. It stemmed from calls of a robbery and stabbing several blocks away.

DeVine said four law enforcement officials, two Hohenwald police officers and two Lewis County sheriff's deputies were responding to the robbery call when they spotted the robbery suspect, identified as Allen Quintez Swader, 18. When they attempted to stop Swader, there was an exchange of gunfire.

DeVine confirmed Swader died at the scene of an apparent gunshot wound. Swader is from Shelbyville according to his driver's licence, but he also has family in the area.

"During the course of that exchange, two officers were struck," DeVine said.

One of them, a Lewis County deputy, was shot at least twice, DeVine said. Deputy Robin Hooks, 38, was flown by medical helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was shot once to the arm and once to an undetermined location. The other injured officer, a Hohenwald police officer Robert Allen Carroll, 39, was hit in the chest but was wearing a bulletproof vest which prevented injury. He was treated at the scene.

"Per TBI policy on officer-involved shootings, questions about the identities of the other two officers involved should be addressed to their respective departments," the TBI said.

The initial robbery was reported around 7:15 p.m. at a home near the 200 block of North Park Street, DeVine said.

Investigators believe Swader broke into a home and confronted a man inside. DeVine said Swader stabbed the man in the stomach, took money and guns from him, and ran away. The man was not seriously hurt and called law enforcement with a suspect description.

As law enforcement were on the way to the man's home to investigate the incident, they spotted Swader, based on the description of the suspect provided by the earlier victim," the TBI said in a news release Friday.

Four TBI agents, along with a team of forensic scientists, have responded to Hohenwald to investigate the shooting at the request of District Attorney General Kim Helper.

Reporter Adam Tamburin contributed to this report.