TWRA officer shot in Lawrence County

A Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer was shot in Lawrence County on Wednesday morning, December 30, 2009 but was able to assist in the capture of three suspects who are charged in the case.

Police said the shooting occurred at Henryville Road and Haymons Lane.

The officer, Jeff Hummel, was hit with buckshot at close range in the left shoulder and back after responding to a report of a car parked on the side of a road in an Amish area of the county.

The injured officer was transported via helicopter to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Hummel was responsive when he was being put in the helicopter, said local police.

Sheriff Kenny Taylor said he and Hummel captured three people involved after chasing them through nearby fields.

He said Hummel got into the Sheriff’s Office vehicle with him and aided in the pursuit which ended about a mile away after the suspects wrecked the truck.

TWRA spokesman Doug Markham said the suspects are a father and his two sons. Taylor said the three people have been involved in several burglaries of the local Amish people.

James C. Swafford, 24, of Lawrenceburg, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of theft of property and two counts of aggravated burglary. He also had an active violation of probation warrant.

Joe Howard Swafford, 50, of Summertown, is charged with two counts of theft and two counts of aggravated burglary.

Patrick Swafford, 20, also from Summertown, faces two counts of theft and two counts of aggravated burglary.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is working the case.

A wildlife agency spokesman said no one he spoke to at TWRA can remember any other incident in which a wildlife officer was shot by a suspect.

Hummel was released from the hospital at about 4:45 p.m. December 31, 2009.