Background: The Days Inn on the 800 block of University Street in Martin, Tennessee (WBIR/YouTube). Inset left: Khristi Cunningham (Obion County Jail). Inset right: Deputy Derrick Bonham (Weakley County Sheriff's Office).
Authorities believe a woman fired a gun at a Tennessee motel, called 911 to report it, and then ambushed a responding deputy by shooting him dead.
Khristi Cunningham, 44, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Weakley County Sheriff's Deputy Derrick Bonham, 37, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced.
During the early morning hours of Jan. 30, Bonham was on duty with the Weakley County Sheriff's Office, headquartered in western Tennessee. At about 3 a.m., the Martin Police Department contacted the sheriff's office, asking deputies for help with a reported shooting at the Days Inn on University Street in Martin, a small city in the northwest part of the state, some 145 miles from Nashville.
Cunningham is not only the person who fired the shot at the motel, but also the one who called to report it, court documents reviewed by regional ABC affiliate WEWS claim. Investigators suspect that Cunningham proceeded to drive to a Pocket's convenience store 1 mile away and position herself to watch the law enforcement response.
She allegedly continued calling 911 and hanging up, and, according to the court records, a dispatcher told Bonham that she believed the reporting party was at the Pocket's convenience store.
The TBI stated that a deputy — Bonham — was "checking a nearby gas station for witnesses" when he came across Cunningham just after 3 a.m. She was on the phone with 911 at the time he pulled up, CBS and The CW affiliate KFVS reported.
"For reasons still under investigation, Cunningham brandished a weapon and shot the deputy," the TBI went on. She then shot him three more times as he was on the ground, according to investigators, who pointed to the deputy's own body camera footage.
The suspect then reportedly fired multiple shots at other officers.
Officers with the Martin Police Department were able to arrest Cunningham. Bonham was transported to a local hospital, where he died.
Weakley County Sheriff Terry McDade described the shooting as a "great tragedy."
"I hope the person responsible doesn't breathe our air anymore," he said, per WEWS. "If that offends somebody, I'm offended that they're offended."
Bonham was a husband with three children; he was described by McDade as "kind, quiet and humble."