McKENZIE, Tenn. — A McKenzie man was taken into custody Tuesday evening after a hours-long standoff that eventually required the Madison County SWAT team at a residence on Tennessee Street.
Bryan M. Gearin, 35, faces three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of assault on a first responder. His bond was set at $300,000.
According to a report by McKenzie police Department, the incident began around 1:53 p.m. whe Ptlm. Dalton Raspberry and Ptlm. Timothy Dillon went to 100 Tennessee St. to return a driver’s license that had been turned in to the department.
The license belonged to Joyce Gearin at that address.
Officers heard loud music coming from a garage on the property. When they knocked, a male voice inside began making threats.
“The first threat was to use 5 gallons of gasoline to burn down the garage and kill us all,” Raspberry wrote in the incident report. The voice then threatened to use an assault rifle to kill the officers.
Ms. Gearin arrived and attempted to calm her son. She told officers Bryan Gearin had stopped taking his prescribed medication for seizures and a brain injury, had been feeling depressed, and had been drinking alcohol. She said she did not know whether he had any firearms inside.
With Bryan Gearin still refusing to come to the door, and a separate fight call coming in on Locust Avenue, officers left the scene temporarily.
They returned around 3:29 p.m., this time joined by Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Bo Ezell.
Bryan again refused to come to the door.
Deputy Ezell reported hearing what sounded like a shotgun slide being racked.
Assistant Chief Trey Boucher advised officers to back away from the area and wait to see whether Gearin would voluntarily leave with his mother. All officers withdrew to the McKenzie Middle School parking lot.
By 4:25 p.m., a large contingent had assembled, including Ptlm. Cunningham, Lt. Justin Brister, Inv. Kyle Beauchamp, Inv. Cody Coleman, and multiple Carroll County Sheriff’s deputies, and surrounded the residence.
Ms. Gearin returned and advised that she believed Bryan was still in the garage.
Boucher was eventually able to make vocal contact with him near the back of the garage.
Bryan Gearin still refused to come out, and a decision was made to hold the scene until the Madison County SWAT team arrived.
SWAT arrived around 7:30 p.m. and attempted to call Bryan out over a PA system. A negotiator reached him by phone, but during the call Bryan stated he had gasoline inside and intended to use it.
SWAT officers broke a side window and deployed chemical agents into the residence.
Gearin was later found hiding in the crawl space beneath the home. He was taken into custody, evaluated by medics on scene, and transported by Deputy Ezell to Carroll County Jail in Huntingdon.
