John Wesley Wright was a 25-year-old reserve deputy with the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office when he was killed on August 16, 1988, in Rogersville. He was taking part in a high-risk effort to apprehend an escaped convict when a fellow deputy’s weapon discharged and Wright was fatally struck. Accounts describe the death as an accidental shooting that occurred during the chaos of the capture attempt.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Wright had served about a year as a reserve deputy. He left behind a fiancée, his parents, and five siblings. He was buried at Hamblen Memory Gardens in Morristown, Tennessee, and his name appears on rolls and memorials honoring officers killed in the line of duty.

If anyone has information about the incident or knew John Wesley Wright, please share what is known.