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CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Carter County man was arrested Thursday after investigators say he used a gun to frighten truck drivers.
The Carter County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) reports deputies responded to the Carter County Landfill regarding two dump truck drivers who heard gunshots while driving on Landfill Road.
Upon arrival, officers spoke with the truck drivers, who reported they were driving on Landfill Road in Elizabethton when they stopped in front of a home to talk to each other. The truck drivers told police they had been stopped for less than a minute and heard several gunshots coming from the property they were stopped in front of.
“One of the drivers reported that the previous day while he was driving on Landfill Road a man ran down the roadway toward him, climbed up to the window of his truck, and told him “if drivers kept hitting ‘jake brakes’ in front of his residence that he would shoot at them,'” the CCSO said in the report.
According to the sheriff’s office, the driver stated when he stopped on the road Thursday to speak to the other driver, he heard six gunshots and saw the same man he encountered the other day holding a pistol.
Deputies then went to a home in the 100 block of Landfill Road to attempt to locate the suspect. Officers reportedly found six spent shell casings near the front door.
A man, identified as Thomas Gambrel, 47, reportedly pulled into the driveway of the home and asked if he could help officers.
“Gambrel stated he had stepped out on his porch and fired into his yard because of his frustration with the trucks making so much noise,” deputies said in the affidavit charging Gambrel. “At that time, I asked Mr. Gambrel why he would fire his weapon in that manner, and he stated ‘to get them to stop.'”
Gambrel was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault.
As of Friday, Gambrel is being held without bond at the Carter County Detention Center pending an arraignment.