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- Dec 25, 1998
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I lost a sister officer today. She died in the line of duty. Attached is the article that explains what happened. There is no knife content, but please bear with me I am a little depressed.
Deputy dies after being hit by car
Second officer is seriously injured
February 27, 2000
By Jamie Satterfield, News-Sentinel staff writer
A mother lost her only child and the Knox County Sheriff's Department lost one of its own Saturday when two deputies investigating a shooting were struck by a motorist in Northwest Knox County.
Deputy Angela K. Payne, 31, died Saturday from injuries she suffered when she and Deputy Mike Reyda, 33, were struck by a car at 1:41 a.m. on Byington-Beaver Ridge Road.
Neither Payne nor Reyda were breathing "on their own" when the deputies arrived at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Sheriff Tim Hutchison said.
Reyda eventually began breathing without a respirator and, though still in critical condition in the intensive-care unit, "has been progressively getting better," Hutchison said.
Payne never regained consciousness. She was an only child, and her father is deceased, leaving her mother and her 90-year-old grandmother as her two closest surviving relatives, Hutchison said. Payne's mother was to donate her organs, according to the sheriff.
Her friends and fellow officers gathered at the hospital around 6 p.m. Saturday to await word that Payne had been officially pronounced dead. There are procedural delays inherent in cases in which a person is removed from a life-support system and their organs are being donated.
Payne's mother remained at her daughter's side.
"She's just sitting by her bedside holding on to her," Hutchison said.
Payne was hired in March 1997 at the Sheriff's Department but was still considered a rookie on her patrol squad, having been promoted to street duty last June. Reyda has worked for the department for nearly 12 years.
Reyda had not been told Saturday evening of Payne's death.
"He's two beds over from her," Hutchison said. "He doesn't know."
Hutchison said he is worried about how Reyda will react.
"She was the rookie," Hutchison said. "He was the more senior officer. With rookies, there is this feeling among senior officers that you are supposed to watch out for the rookie, protect them."
Payne and Reyda had been sent to a roofing company on Byington-Beaver Road after a man who lives across the street from the business called the E-911 Center. The caller said he heard screaming and then gunfire. When he looked out his window, he saw a man banging on the door of the closed business.
When Payne and Reyda arrived, they parked their cruisers in the northbound lane of the roadway in front of the business because there was no shoulder on which to park, he said. Their emergency lights were operating, he said. The deputies were standing in the southbound lane when they were struck by a southbound car driven by Joshua Grubb, 19, Hutchison said.
Payne was thrown some 30 feet, while Reyda landed near where the two were struck. A third deputy, Jason Daniels, arrived seconds later as backup for Payne and Reyda and was unaware at first that his fellow officers had been hit.
"Thank goodness, (Daniels) was that close," Hutchison said. "He saw Mike first. He says (on the police radio) he has an officer down. Nobody knew why, whether it was a shooting or an ambush or what. He didn't see Angela right away. When he saw her, he said, 'We've got two down.'"
LifeStar emergency helicopter was summoned, but the chopper struck tree limbs while landing, and the deputies had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The sheriff said Payne and Reyda may have encountered the shooting suspect in the road and likely had their backs to the approaching car when they were hit.
Authorities may have unknowingly questioned the shooting suspect after the accident, Hutchison said, noting there was a small crowd of people gathered there when other deputies arrived.
"A witness called today and said one of the people we were talking to after the crash may have been the (suspect)," he said.
Authorities are seeking the shooting suspect, the sheriff said.
Grubb voluntarily took a blood test, Hutchison said. It does not appear he will be charged in the incident, pending results of that blood test, he said.
Payne is the second member of the Sheriff's Department in just over a year to suffer fatal injuries while on duty. Lt. Steve McCulley was killed Feb. 16, 1999, when his cruiser was struck by a train in Farragut.
"Everybody's numb, just like we were with Steve," Hutchison said. "It's just hard to believe we're here a year later with another officer."
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308 or satterfield@knews.com.
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Dennis Bible
Deputy dies after being hit by car
Second officer is seriously injured
February 27, 2000
By Jamie Satterfield, News-Sentinel staff writer
A mother lost her only child and the Knox County Sheriff's Department lost one of its own Saturday when two deputies investigating a shooting were struck by a motorist in Northwest Knox County.
Deputy Angela K. Payne, 31, died Saturday from injuries she suffered when she and Deputy Mike Reyda, 33, were struck by a car at 1:41 a.m. on Byington-Beaver Ridge Road.
Neither Payne nor Reyda were breathing "on their own" when the deputies arrived at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Sheriff Tim Hutchison said.
Reyda eventually began breathing without a respirator and, though still in critical condition in the intensive-care unit, "has been progressively getting better," Hutchison said.
Payne never regained consciousness. She was an only child, and her father is deceased, leaving her mother and her 90-year-old grandmother as her two closest surviving relatives, Hutchison said. Payne's mother was to donate her organs, according to the sheriff.
Her friends and fellow officers gathered at the hospital around 6 p.m. Saturday to await word that Payne had been officially pronounced dead. There are procedural delays inherent in cases in which a person is removed from a life-support system and their organs are being donated.
Payne's mother remained at her daughter's side.
"She's just sitting by her bedside holding on to her," Hutchison said.
Payne was hired in March 1997 at the Sheriff's Department but was still considered a rookie on her patrol squad, having been promoted to street duty last June. Reyda has worked for the department for nearly 12 years.
Reyda had not been told Saturday evening of Payne's death.
"He's two beds over from her," Hutchison said. "He doesn't know."
Hutchison said he is worried about how Reyda will react.
"She was the rookie," Hutchison said. "He was the more senior officer. With rookies, there is this feeling among senior officers that you are supposed to watch out for the rookie, protect them."
Payne and Reyda had been sent to a roofing company on Byington-Beaver Road after a man who lives across the street from the business called the E-911 Center. The caller said he heard screaming and then gunfire. When he looked out his window, he saw a man banging on the door of the closed business.
When Payne and Reyda arrived, they parked their cruisers in the northbound lane of the roadway in front of the business because there was no shoulder on which to park, he said. Their emergency lights were operating, he said. The deputies were standing in the southbound lane when they were struck by a southbound car driven by Joshua Grubb, 19, Hutchison said.
Payne was thrown some 30 feet, while Reyda landed near where the two were struck. A third deputy, Jason Daniels, arrived seconds later as backup for Payne and Reyda and was unaware at first that his fellow officers had been hit.
"Thank goodness, (Daniels) was that close," Hutchison said. "He saw Mike first. He says (on the police radio) he has an officer down. Nobody knew why, whether it was a shooting or an ambush or what. He didn't see Angela right away. When he saw her, he said, 'We've got two down.'"
LifeStar emergency helicopter was summoned, but the chopper struck tree limbs while landing, and the deputies had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The sheriff said Payne and Reyda may have encountered the shooting suspect in the road and likely had their backs to the approaching car when they were hit.
Authorities may have unknowingly questioned the shooting suspect after the accident, Hutchison said, noting there was a small crowd of people gathered there when other deputies arrived.
"A witness called today and said one of the people we were talking to after the crash may have been the (suspect)," he said.
Authorities are seeking the shooting suspect, the sheriff said.
Grubb voluntarily took a blood test, Hutchison said. It does not appear he will be charged in the incident, pending results of that blood test, he said.
Payne is the second member of the Sheriff's Department in just over a year to suffer fatal injuries while on duty. Lt. Steve McCulley was killed Feb. 16, 1999, when his cruiser was struck by a train in Farragut.
"Everybody's numb, just like we were with Steve," Hutchison said. "It's just hard to believe we're here a year later with another officer."
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308 or satterfield@knews.com.
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Dennis Bible
