TN DEPUTY COMA, VENTILATOR AFTER BRUTAL ATTACK

Saturday night, 10:15 p.m., Knox County, Tennessee, 911 gets a report of shots fired on Stanley Road.

When deputies arrive, a woman claiming her "crazy ex" is on the property points officers toward a wooded area. Announcing their presence with shouts of "Sheriff's Office," a defiant voice from the woods curses the deputies. Someone begins throwing rocks.

The dark, wooded area provides cover for the suspect, who claims to have a gun.

Deputy Swanger can't get a clear view. Swanger orders the suspect to "show me your hands." As he enters the brush, he is met with an ambush of rocks.  Swanger is hit full force on the head and falls to the ground.

Deputies rush to Swanger, who is "knocked out," and drag him from the woods to safety. A bloody gash is clearly visible. Deputy Swanger is unsteady on his feet.

Swanger is admitted into the ICU at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he ends up on a ventilator in a coma.

The suspect, 44-year-old Christopher Michael Hensley, is caught and charged.

Joining Nancy Grace today:

• Deputy Dalton Swanger - Knox County Sheriff's Office (suffered serious injury to his head after suspect hit him with a rock
• Stephania Pumphrey - Girlfriend of Deputy Swanger
• Deputy Matthew Kirchner - Former partner of Deputy Dalton Swanger
• Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), NEW Podcast "Mayhem in the morgue" Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)
• Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories'

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