TBI special agents continue to investigate the circumstances of an officer-involved shooting in Hamilton County early Friday morning (2/2/24), during the effort to recover an Endangered 11-year-old girl from Knoxville. The suspect, 38-year-old Edward Ahrens, a convicted sex offender in Georgia, was killed.
According to the TBI, Ahrens and the 11-year-old girl were traveling south on Interstate 75 toward Georgia. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including deputies from the Knox County and Catoosa County, Georgia sheriff’s departments, followed the vehicle as it exited the interstate at Exit 1 in East Ridge. An encounter ensued, during which preliminary information indicates Ahrens refused to comply with officer commands to surrender and attempted to hit law enforcement officers with his vehicle. As a result, at least four officers fired their weapons into the vehicle, striking Ahrens, who subsequently died. The child did not sustain injury in the incident. Three Knox County deputies sustained minor injuries and received medical treatment at the scene.