Officers shoot when man with missing girl tries to run over deputies, authorities say

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Officers fatally shot a registered sex offender from Georgia who was traveling with a missing 11-year-old girl from Tennessee when the man hit three deputies with his vehicle during a confrontation early Friday, authorities said.

An investigation of the girl’s disappearance led Knox County Sheriff’s deputies and several other police agencies to the Tennessee-Georgia line, the sheriff’s office said in a statement on social media. The suspect failed to comply with commands and then used his vehicle as a weapon, causing officers to fire, the statement said.

The man was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead. Three Knox County Sheriff’s detectives suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said.

The suspect, identified as Edward Ahrens, 38, was found traveling south on Interstate 75 toward Georgia with the child, who was reported missing Jan. 30, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Officers from several agencies followed the vehicle as it exited the interstate and then confronted Ahrens, the agency said. When the suspect attempted to hit officers with the vehicle, at least four fired at him, the statement said. The girl wasn’t injured.

Ahrens was listed on Georgia’s sex offender registry, WTVC-TV reported. The Catoosa County Court Clerk told the station that Ahrens pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children in 2003 and was convicted of nine counts of the same charge in 2008 and served 10 years in prison.