'TRAGIC' END IN DRUG RAID CAME AMID CONFUSION

HUNTSVILLE, Tenn. - In the confusion and screams of a methamphetamine raid
last week, a sheriff's officer fired a shot that killed his deputy partner,
a prosecutor said yesterday.

Sgt. Hubert ''John John'' Yancey, 35, was killed Friday night when he and
drug Officer Marty Carson, son of Scott County Sheriff Jim Carson, entered
a mobile home near Oneida where they believed meth was being made.

According to District Attorney General Paul Phillips, Carson entered the
trailer first with a resident's permission and didn't know that Yancey had
followed.

With women in the home screaming and the headlights of a patrol car
blinding his way, Carson moved toward a back bedroom where it was suspected
the meth was being made. He ordered those in the bedroom to come out but
got no answer.

The officer heard someone move a long-handled sickle blade in the bedroom
that turned out to be part of the lab equipment. It sounded like a shotgun
loading, the prosecutor said.

Hiding in a bathroom and fearing an armed suspect was advancing on him,
Carson shot once when he saw a figure enter the hall.

''Tragically, it was Sgt. Yancey who had come to assist him,'' Phillips said.

''We have lost a wonderful public servant,'' Phillips said of Yancey, and
Officer Carson ''has lost his partner and his best friend. He is completely
devastated by this tragedy and needs the prayers of this community.''

Officer Carson is a nine-year veteran and in line to become chief deputy.
He was asked by Yancey's wife, Lori, to serve as a pallbearer at her
husband's funeral Tuesday.

The younger Carson has been on leave during the investigation.

Two men and a woman, all of Oneida, were arrested at the house and were
held on three counts each of manufacturing meth.