BIG STONE GAP POLICE OFFICER DIES FOLLOWING SATURDAY MORNING SHOOTING, SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

Big Stone Gap police officer shot and killed early Saturday morning. Big Stone Gap police officer Michael Chandler was found unconscious in a ditch by a Wise County Sheriff's Deputy along the driveway at a residence in the 2500 block of Orr Street Saturday morning. Virginia State Police reports that Chandler had responded to an empty house on Orr Street at just after 4 a.m. Saturday to perform a welfare check on an individual who was inside. When he arrived, it is believed that he encountered "at least one individual" and was shot. Chandler was transported from the scene to Norton Community Hospital where he was flown to Johnson City Medical Center. Later Saturday evening, Big Stone Gap Police Chief Steve Hamm announced that Chandler died as a result of his injuries at 7 p.m. A 33-year-old Big Stone Gap man, who is the suspect in the shooting of Chandler, was arrested at around 8 p.m. Saturday at the Travel Inn in the 800 block of Lynn Garden Drive in Kingsport. The man is in custody on probation violations out of Wise County and South Carolina, while the charges in the case of the shooting of Chandler are pending at this time. The investigation by the Wise County Sheriff's Office, Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney, and Big Stone Gap Police Department remains ongoing at this time and no further details, including the name of the suspect, have been released. The U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, Kingsport Police Department, KPD's Criminal Investigations Division, KPD's SWAT Team, and the Bristol, Virginia Police Department assisted with the apprehension of the suspect in Kingsport. November 13 was also Chandler's birthday, he was 29.

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