DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Dyersburg Police say a man has been charged after reportedly firing an AK-47 near officers who were conducting a traffic stop.
The Dyersburg Police Department says it happened at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night.
Police say officers were conducting a traffic stop on Frank Maynard Drive near Dyersburg Primary School when they heard shots coming from Ewell Street. Dyersburg Police say officers could hear tree limbs breaking from the gunfire.
The department has released video footage of the moment officers heard gunfire.
Officers searched Ewell Street and interviewed witnesses. Police say the search led officers to a home in the 1500 block of Ewell, where they made contact with a man identified as 25-year-old Jeffrey Atwell.
Atwell reportedly told officers that fireworks were being shot in the area. While speaking with Atwell, officers saw a man identified as 24-year-old Marcus Akins in the home. Police say Akins is a convicted felon who was wanted for failing to appear in court.
Dyersburg Police say officers spotted an AK-47 that was “still hot to the touch” laying next to Akins’s chair. Officers reportedly also found two magazines loaded with 7.62 ammunition inside the home and spent shell casings outside of the home.
Police say Akins has been charged unlawful possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment due to “close proximity to the officers on the traffic stop, heavily traveled roadway, school, and homes.” Atwell received a citation to appear in court, as well as a citation for the manufacture, sale and discharge of fireworks.