On September 3, 2026, at approximately 12:25 p.m., officers with the McMinnville Police Department (MPD) were dispatched to an apartment on Dogwood Pointe Road in response to a domestic assault call. The officers were told by dispatch that Scott Carroll, Jr. had assaulted a female in the residence, that children were present, and that Carroll had access to weapons and ammunition.
The female and her children left the residence as officers arrived. She stated to the officers that there were two (2) Nine (9) millimeter handguns, one (1) Armalite Rifle 15 (AR-15) style .223 caliber rifle, one (1) shotgun and 1000 rounds of 9mm ammunition and 1000 rounds of .223 ammunition present in the apartment that Carroll now had access to. Based on interviews of the female describing what had occurred, an officer obtained arrest warrants for Mr. Carroll for felony Aggravated Assault (Domestic), Prevention of a 911 Call, and False Imprisonment. MPD Negotiators attempted to get Carroll to surrender peacefully; however, Carroll would not comply.
At 2:25 p.m.,the decision to use tear gas was made. After MPD Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) officers approached the residence to deliver tear gas into the residence, Carroll fired at them with an AR-15 rifle. One officer was holding a ballistic shield which was struck and suffered a minor injury from possible shrapnel from the round. Officers did not return fire but took cover behind a vehicle. Other MPD officers took cover in a grove of trees. Carroll again fired multiple times from inside the apartment at 2:42 and 2:43.
MPD made the decision to request mutual aid from the Murfreesboro Police Department SWAT Team, which has a civilian Bearcat armored vehicle and the Warren County Sheriff's Department, which has a de-militarized Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle.
Murfreesboro SWAT used the Bearcat vehicle to extract the exposed MPD officers from their positions. Once the officers were under protective cover away from the residence, the Bearcat was positioned in front of the residence, with the front of the vehicle facing the door of the apartment. At some point, an MPD SWAT officer took up a position in the gunner's cupola on the WCSD MRAP vehicle. Murfreesboro SWAT and MPD SWAT officers re-established a perimeter around the apartment.
Multiple calls were made from the loudspeaker on the Bearcat for Scott Carroll to come out of the residence with his hands up. When Carroll still refused to surrender, at 5:52 the boom on the front of the Bearcat was used to break the front window of the apartment in order to 131 East Main Street. PO Box 510 . McMinnville, TN 37111 . www.tennesseeda.org/district-31/ deliver tear gas through the window later. At 5:58, the front door of the apartment was pushed open using the boom.
At 7:01 p.m., more tear gas was deployed. At 7:02, Scott Carroll, Jr. exits the front door of the apartment walking briskly, then stops on the front porch and raises both hands. He has two (2) nine millimeter pistols, one in each hand. He points them in the direction of the officers. A Murfreesboro SWAT officer near the front of the apartment sees Carroll, shouts "Hands! Hands!"then fires at Carroll striking him. Almost simultaneously, an MPD SWAT sharpshooter fires from the cupola of the MRAP vehicle, striking Carroll in the head.
After verifying that Carroll is incapacitated, officers handcuff him and then call for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), who were already on scene. EMS determines Carroll is deceased. A District Attorney General Criminal Investigator, who was on scene, notified me of what had transpired and I requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to investigate since this was an officer involved shooting that resulted in the death of a suspect. TBI Special Agents responded that night and began their investigation regarding the circumstances that lead to the shooting of Scott Carroll, Jr. Agents found the two handguns near Carroll's body on the porch. Inside the apartment, they found the AR-15 rifle and the shotgun. Spent brass casings were found where Carroll had fired from inside the residence. Agents with the TBI copied all of the body worn camera ("bodycam") footage and reviewed it. The bodycam footage agrees as to the time of gunshots and corroborates the statements made by the officers involved. At least two vehicles parked near the apartment were found to have damage from rounds fired by Mr. Carroll.
The TBI investigation is still incomplete. Lab reports, toxicology, the autopsy and several technical investigatory tests are waiting to be completed. However, based on the strength of the bodycam footage, witness interviews, and all other evidence currently available, I requested the lead TBI Special Agent to provide me with a preliminary report of the TBІ investigation.
The relevant law pertaining to this incident is Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-11-620, Use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer,
a) A law enforcement officer, after giving notice of the officer's identity as such, may use or threaten to use force that is reasonably necessary to accomplish the arrest of an individual suspected of a criminal act who resists or flees from the arrest.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the officer may use deadly force to effect an arrest only if all other reasonable means of apprehension have been exhausted or are unavailable, and where feasible, the officer has given notice of the officer's identity as such and given a warning that deadly force may be used unless resistance or flight ceases, and:
(1) The officer has probable cause to believe the individual to be arrested has committed a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious bodily injury or grave sexual abuse; or
(2) The officer has probable cause to believe that the individual to be arrested poses a threat of serious bodily injury or grave sexual abuse, either to the officer or to others unless immediately apprehended.
After considering the information provided by the TBI described above and a review of the relevant portions of the bodycams, I find that the officers involved acted in accordance with the Tennessee use of deadly force statute as well as the self-defense and defense of others statutes. The officers' use of deadly force was reasonable to affect an arrest considering that Carroll had threatened his cohabitant with bodily harm, then fired on the officers using an AR-15 rifle, striking the ballistic shield wielded by an officer, then finally, pointing two pistols in the direction of officers after he had fired at them only hours earlier. The officers had probable cause to believe that the individual to be arrested posed a threat of serious bodily injury either to the officers or to others unless immediately apprehended. Further, I find that there is no basis for a reasonable grand jury to determine that the officers did not act in accordance with the use of force, self-defense, and defense of others statutes, so I will not be presenting this case to an investigatory grand jury. A grand jury finding that the officers complied with the law and that the shooting was justified would be more transparent and would offer more public oversight and carry more authority than just my finding alone; however, the strength of the evidence in this case (primarily the multiple mutually corroborating bodycams and witness testimony) is such that I do not believe presenting the case to the grand jury is necessary.
There are procedures and protocols that must be followed for clearing any officer involved shooting. The first step is a full and fair investigation by an outside agency. In the 31st Judicial District, this is going to be the TBI. The TBI is the state's premier investigatory agency and operates at its own timetable. They cannot be forced to speed up their investigation. The next step once the investigation is complete (or in this case, complete enough that further information is going to explain and clarify what happened but not change the main facts) is a review by the District Attorney to determine whether the shooting complied with the law. Attempts by the media, the public, or counsel for an officer involved to alter or to speed up the investigation or legal review is not helpful and may actually delay the investigation or legal review. I understand while this investigation and legal review are being completed may be stressful for the officers, but both are necessary for the administration of justice and for the public to trust in the use of force by police officers. My office is dedicated to supporting law enforcement officers while assuring proper procedure is followed. We thank the officers involved for their dedication and sacrifice and pray for them as they work to keep our community safe.
Matthew T. Colvard District Attorney General