Knoxville crime scene technician shot while processing shooting scene
Cody Lawson underwent surgery and remains hospitalized after shots were fired at her and a KPD officer in South Knoxville, the Knoxville Police Department said. A man is in custody.
3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 15, 2026, 5:27 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 15, 2026, 5:34 p.m. ET
Knoxville police identify wounded crime scene technician as Cody Lawson
The Knoxville Police Department has identified the staff member wounded early on Monday, July 13, 2026, as Crime Scene Technician Cody Lawson. The department said as of 11:50 am on July 13 that Lawson had undergone surgery and remained hospitalized.
Lawson was among KPD officers and Forensics Unit staff processing a scene and canvassing for evidence on Jones Street in South Knoxville. Police said officers had responded at around 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, 2026, to a report that shots had been fired into an occupied home at 2300 Jones Street, and that no injuries were reported in that shooting. Just after midnight, according to the department, multiple shots were fired at a KPD officer and a crime scene technician from an adjacent wood line. Police said the man since identified as Joey Rudd, 35, is in custody.
"This incident demonstrates the substantial risk our officers and staff take every day and every shift," Chief Paul Noel said. "It is only by the grace of God that Cody or one of our officers was not killed today, and I am profoundly grateful for that. Nonetheless, Cody has a long road of recovery ahead. We will support her, her family and her colleagues in the Forensics Unit however we can along the way, and we ask that the community uplift Cody in the days, weeks and months ahead."
The department has not stated a motive, and police have not said what led to either shooting.
Aug 15, 2026, 5:27 p.m. ETFirst report
Knoxville crime scene technician wounded while processing shooting scene
A Knoxville Police Department crime scene technician was shot and wounded while working an earlier shooting scene in South Knoxville, the department said. KPD identified the wounded staff member as Crime Scene Technician Cody Lawson, and said as of 11:50 a.m. on July 13, 2026 that she had undergone surgery and remained hospitalized.
According to the Knoxville Police Department, officers responded at around 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, 2026 to a report that shots had been fired into an occupied home at 2300 Jones Street. No injuries were reported in that shooting. KPD officers and Forensics Unit staff were processing the scene and canvassing for evidence when, just after midnight, a man fired multiple shots at a KPD Officer and Crime Scene Technician from an adjacent wood line, the department said.
KPD said the man has since been identified as Joey Rudd, 35. Officers converged on the area after the gunfire and located Rudd hiding in the woods, where he surrendered, according to the department. He is in custody.
The Knoxville Police Department stated that Rudd fired multiple rounds and said it booked him on four counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Nothing in the department's account addresses a motive.
"This incident demonstrates the substantial risk our officers and staff take every day and every shift," Chief Paul Noel said in the department's statement. "It is only by the grace of God that Cody or one of our officers was not killed today, and I am profoundly grateful for that. Nonetheless, Cody has a long road of recovery ahead. We will support her, her family and her colleagues in the Forensics Unit however we can along the way, and we ask that the community uplift Cody in the days, weeks and months ahead."
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 21:27current
First published.
- Version 115 Aug 2026, 21:37current
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 21:34current
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