A Florida man pled guilty Monday to attempted murder in the 2015 shooting of a Knoxville Police Officer, leading to the release of video of the confrontation. Police Chief David Rausch touted the video as an example of “the reality of law enforcement in this country,” in contrast to videos that have surfaced showing apparently unprovoked police shootings of black civilians in places varying from Minnesota to Louisiana this summer.
Matthew Pryor was wanted for shooting two law enforcement officers and a carjacking in Florida when he was identified by Knoxville Police Officer Jimmy Wilson in May of 2015. The police video shows Wilson and his partners knocking on the door of Pryor’s hotel room on the third floor of the Best Value Inn on East Magnolia Avenue. The door opens, Wilson says, “Hey, buddy”—and the officer is immediately shot in the chest. Wilson, whose bullet-resistant vest saved him from significant injury, scrambles away before getting up to cover the door along with his rookie partners, who back away to either side. A relatively short standoff unfolds. Pryor surrendered peaceably about 30 minutes later.
Rausch emphasized that Wilson, now a 10-year veteran at the department, was courteous to the suspect and remained calm enough in the aftermath of the shooting to direct backup and look after other hotel guests. His partners, despite their lack of experience, did not open fire on the suspect or bust down the hotel door to pursue him.
Rausch found a broader significance in the video. “It’s vital that the truth be shown,” he said at a Monday morning press conference. “We see awful videos of when there is a question” about how officers behave in confrontations across the country. “What you’re going to see is the reality of law enforcement in this country. You’re going to see the restraint of law enforcement in this country. The courtesy of law enforcement in this country… This shows what happens more than anything else with law enforcement in this country, and that is they go into dangerous situations and behave professionally.”
Horror at police shootings of unarmed blacks around the country have led to protests under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Knoxville chapter has, on its Facebook page, accused Knoxville police of intimidating protesters, raised concerns about lawsuits against the department related to police brutality, and voiced criticism of how KPD responds to officers who commit misconduct.
At the press conference Monday, Rausch displayed the bullet hole in the vest Officer Wilson was wearing the day he confronted Pryor, noting that it was fortunate the bullet hit him there. Last month Maryville Police Officer Kenny Moats, although wearing a vest, was shot in the neck and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
Pryor, a 31-year-old white man, also pled guilty in January to federal charges in Florida and is serving 50 years for those first. Once that sentence is complete, he will serve a 40-year sentence for attempted first degree murder, and 10 years for employing a firearm during the attempted murder in the Knoxville case, Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen announced Monday. He will be eligible for parole after serving 45 percent of the 40-year sentence, but the rest of his jail time must be served in its entirety, district attorney officials say.
Allen says that at his pleading before Criminal Court Judge Scott Green, Pryor basically said “he wasn’t against law enforcement, but was opposed to oppression and tyranny.”
S. Heather Duncan has won numerous awards for her feature writing and coverage of the environment, government, education, business and local history during her 15-year reporting career. Originally from Western North Carolina, Heather has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, and several daily newspapers. Heather spent almost a dozen years at The Telegraph in Macon, Ga., where she spent most of her time covering the environment or writing project-investigations that provoked changes such as new laws related to day care and the protection of environmentally-sensitive lands. You can reach Heather at heather@knoxmercury.com
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