Knoxville police release bodycam videos of shooting that wounded axe-wielding man

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Knoxville police have released body camera videos from officers involved in the Nov. 12 shooting that wounded Christopher Arons, a 52-year-old man who was wielding an axe on the city's northeast side when officers responded to a series of 911 calls for help.

The videos show the perspectives of three officers who were on the scene, starting with officer Eric Smith, who was the first to arrive on Fairview Street about 1:15 p.m. The 911 calls included one from a woman who said Arons was armed with an axe and threatening her son.

Smith encountered Arons in the street as soon as he arrived. He drew his weapon when he saw Arons was armed with the axe and warned him repeatedly to drop the weapon. Arons responded "fire" several times as he approached Smith, who walked backward away from Arons to put his squad car between the two.

Officer Alexandra Burns arrived from the other direction about 45 seconds after Smith, and Arons turned toward her briefly before turning back to Smith and closing the distance between the two. As Smith and Burns both continued to tell him to drop the axe, Arons responded, "I can't," and closed the distance to Smith.

Burns and Smith fired, wounding Arons. A third officer, Neil Marasignan, arrived right before the shooting and was the first to report shots fired. He calmed Smith and Burns, saying "Hey, easy, relax, relax," and "stop, he's down, he's down."

As other officers arrived, they began providing medical assistance to Arons within 80 seconds after he was shot.

Arons is charged with two counts of aggravated assault against Smith and Burns, the first two officers to arrive, and two counts of vandalism to cars he's accused of committing before the 911 call.