‘Think They’re Movie Stars’: Shocking Video Undermines Tennessee Prosecutor’s Claim of ‘Self-Defense’ After Recklessly Firing Gun at Fleeing Suspects and Nearly Hitting a Family

A Middle Tennessee prosecutor who had been on a ride-a-long with police faces a felony charge of reckless endangerment after firing at a fugitive wanted in connection with a triple homicide. Chris Stanford, the district attorney for Warren and Van Buren counties, said he fired the gun in self-defense. But a DeKalb County grand jury found there was no immediate threat to him or others when he fired his gun “unlawfully, intentionally and recklessly,” failing to even aim the weapon, according to the indictment. Tennessee prosecutor (Credit: NewsChannel 5 Video Screenshot) Video of the Nov. 21 incident contradicts Stanford’s claim that he and other officers were under immediate duress. It shows him firing his weapon at a fleeing car that had just struck a Homeland Security officer. One of the bullets fired by the 43-year-old DA landed in an apartment where a woman and her three children reside. According to WTVF in Nashville, one stray round went through an exterior wall and into the living room, missing the mother and 3-year-old daughter by two feet. No one was shot by Stanford, who fired three to five rounds. Stanford claimed he acted in response to a Homeland Security agent being hit...