A tragedy was averted early this morning stemming from a call received by deputies at 9112 Anne Street in Ooltewah.

At 4:18 a.m. this morning deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office responded to 9112 Anne Street, called to assist Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services on a medical situation. EMS was notified by Life Alert due to the medical panic button activated by the resident at this address. Repeated attempts were made by Emergency Medical Services on scene to contact someone in the home with no success. When deputies arrived at the scene phone contact was then made to the residents daughter, who advised she could not respond to the scene, for deputies to do whatever was necessary to gain entry to the home.

Deputies on scene then forced the front door open and entered, calling out Sheriff’s Office while checking the residence. When they entered a hallway the figure of an elderly male party was seen holding a hand gun. He was asked repeatedly to drop the gun while deputies moved to a safer position. The male party identified as Cecil McDowell age 90, then walked to the front door of the residence and fired the weapon.

Dispatchers with Hamilton County 911 made contact with Mr. McDowell numerous times until he finally understood that it was law enforcement outside. He then put his weapon down and exited the residence. Mr. McDowell had recently been a victim of burglary and theft and had mistakenly thought the deputies were intruders to his home.

The training and great restraint deputies used during this incident certainly averted an injury or death from occurring.

As a matter of public service, anyone who has an elderly family member living alone or utilizes a medical alert system should take every precaution to have safety measures in place to avoid a similar situation from occurring.