TBI Investigates Officer-Involved Shooting in Weakley County

Deceased offender had a slew of charges spanning 25 years in Weakley County

Shannon Taylor

Editor

Bobby Dickens

According to a Press Release by Weakley County Sheriff Terry McDade, on Thursday, April 4, Weakley County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were involved in an officer-involved shooting incident in the county. The TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) was requested by McDade and is the primary agency investigating this incident. McDade stated that any further statements and/or information to be released involving this incident will be done so by the TBI.

The TBI released a statement that “at the request of 27th Judicial District Attorney General Colin Johnson, TBI special agents continue to investigate a deadly officer-involved shooting early Thursday morning in Weakley County.”

According to the TBI’s press release, “the shooting happened at approximately midnight in the 400 block of Travis Road. Deputies from the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department and officers from the Martin Police Department had responded to the area with a report of a stolen vehicle that had been set on fire. Information gathered during their investigation led them to the home of 44-year-old Bobby Dickens, a resident in the area. After making contact with Dickens, however, a short standoff ensued when he refused to comply with the officer’s commands. The deputies used tear gas and TASERs in an attempt to subdue Dickens, but the situation escalated when Dickens presented a knife/machete-type weapon toward the officers, resulting in at least one officer firing their service weapon, striking Dickens, who subsequently died. No law enforcement officers were hurt in the incident.”

“TBI agents are working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews. Throughout the process, investigative findings will be shared with the District Attorney General for his further review and consideration. The TBI acts solely as factfinders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters. That decision rests with the District Attorney General requesting TBI’s involvement.”

“The TBI does not identify the officers involved in these types of incidents and instead refers questions of that nature to the respective department to answer as it sees fit.”

Dickens has over 25 years of charges dating back to 1999, according to a docket search on weakley.tncrtinfo.com/cmCaseList.aspx.

According to the data, Dickens had a total of four order of protections against him, along with charges of assault-bodily injury, assault-threat of bodily injury, attempted assault, unlawful possession of a weapon X2, disorderly conduct, simple possession/casual exchange X4, possession of paraphernalia X3, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon involved X2, reckless endangerment- no weapon involved, aggravated assault X2, domestic assault X2, theft up to $1000, criminal trespassing, meth-possess or casual exchange X3, theft of services, resist stop, arrest, search, evading arrest X2, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, probation violation X7, and failure to appear X6.Of the charges, 17 were dismissed, one was deferred via a diversion, and two of the charges Dickens received a lesser charge for.

The latest charges, stemming from December 2023 involved evading arrest, evading arrest flight-vehicle, resist stop, arrest, search (no weapon), and unlawful possession of a weapon.

According to an affidavit from Greenfield Police Department, on December 2, 2023, Patrolman Danny Bruington, attempted to stop Dickens when he was traveling West on East Main Street in Greenfield due to having a suspended driver's license.

Bruington stated that the vehicle did not yield to emergency equipment and accelerated onto Highway 24 and became stuck in a ditch on Shafter Road where Dickens exited the vehicle and fled on foot against Bruington’s verbal commands.

Once Bruington was able to stop Dickens, he resisted arrest and Bruington had to place him on the ground to take him into custody.

Bruington was notified that Dickens was a convicted felon as of June 28, 2021, and upon searching the vehicle, Bruington noticed a box of .22 ammo and multiple different caliber ammunition and a .22 Marlin Rifle.

In January 2024, Dickens was indicted on those charges by the Grand Jury. According to a Weakley County attorney, Dickens was released on a $5,000 bond set by Circuit Court on Thursday, March 28 despite numerous prior failure to appears, evading arrest and the multiple charges spanning the past 25 years.