Officer who was shot continues to improve; Bond denied for Timothy Craig Ramsey
A McCaysville police officer continues to improve in a Chattanooga, Tennessee, hospital, and the man accused of shooting him is in jail.
McCaysville Police Chief Michael Earley said late Sunday afternoon he and other members of his department had just visited Captain Brantley Worley in ICU at Erlanger Medical Center.
Earley said Worley was awake and talking. He was expected to have surgery Monday and be released from the hospital soon.
Worley was shot in the face Friday night, September 12, shortly after 11 p.m.
Timothy Craig Ramsey, 26, of 225 Kingtown Street, McCaysville, was arrested by law enforcement officers shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday night, some 19 hours after an intensive manhunt began immediately following the shooting.
Ramsey was denied bond in a hearing Monday in front of Fannin County Chief Magistrate Judge Brian Jones.
In his order denying bond, Jones cited numerous factors including Ramsey being a flight risk, a danger to the community and posing a significant risk of committing a felony pending trial.
Ramsey is being held in the Fannin County Jail.
Earley said the incident began shortly after 10 p.m. Friday night when Worley and Officer Reece Parris were dispatched to the report of a suspicious person on Kingtown Street.
They encountered Ramsey and told him to go home, Earley said.
The chief said it was not unusual for officers to deal with Ramsey in this fashion, as he had often been reported as suspicious and found wandering the streets at odd hours. “We’ve dealt with him before,” Earley said.
Later that night, Parris was dispatched to the report of a suspicious vehicle on First Street, which turned out to be a car that had broken down and was left in someone’s driveway.
While finishing that investigation, Parris spotted Ramsey and called for Worley as backup.
When Worley arrived, he began walking toward Ramsey, who in turn began walking away. Worley approached Ramsey and ordered him to stop.
At that point, Earley said Ramsey turned and shot Worley. The suspect immediately ran into nearby woods.
Earley said K-9 units tracked Ramsey from the location, across Blue Ridge Drive, and back to his residence on Kingtown Street.
Officers believed he had gone there and barricaded himself inside his house.
After negotiating for more than two hours, a Cherokee County, Georgia, SWAT team forced entry into the home, only to find the suspect was not there.
That set a manhunt in motion involving multiple law enforcement agencies and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby, who was on the scene from soon after the shooting until Ramsey’s arrest, estimated there were over 100 officers from other agencies that came to help.
After determining Ramsey was not at his residence, officers concentrated on an Albion Street residence where Ramsey was believed to have shot a family’s dog and ate an apple. The suspect again eluded authorities until he was spotted Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of Deal Road in the Grassy Creek section of Polk County.
Earley said he and Blue Ridge Police Chief Rob Stuart were in his vehicle on Deal Road at Bethel Church Road talking with Fannin County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Jesse Godsey, who was in his vehicle facing the opposite direction. (Deal Road in Tennessee turns into Bethel Church Road in Georgia where it crosses the state line).
Godsey spotted someone walking in the woods behind Bethel Church, and Earley and Stuart immediately gave chase.
They, joined by a K9, caught Ramsey in the wooded.
Ramsey was taken to the McCaysville City Hall where he was questioned by the GBI and then transported to the Fannin County Jail.
He is charged with three felonies, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm/Knife During Commission of a Crime, and Criminal Attempt. The Aggravated Assault warrant alleges the assault was “with intent to murder.” The Criminal Attempt warrant states Ramsey “did intend to commit the offense of murder.” Investigator Erin Arp of the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office swore out the warrants against Ramsey.