Questions loom for family of man shot by deputy in Murfreesboro

A Murfreesboro family looks for answers after their dad was shot by a sheriff’s deputy.

Few details have been made available in the case as the investigation by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues.

It happened Wednesday on Double Springs Road when a confrontation between a deputy and Jeffery Underhill led to gunfire.

Mary Underhill, Jeffery’s daughter, was born and raised in Rutherford County. Her week, though, has been spent in Nashville at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“My brother called me, he’s like what’s going on, I just got a call from the neighbor saying there’s a bunch of police there” explained Mary Underhill. “We had no idea if he was alive or dead.”

Her father had been shot by a deputy who responded to the home to follow up about an incident that happened earlier in the week. The deputy’s visit would lead to conflict in the driveway, which led to a physical altercation and shots fired.

Jeffery Underhill survived but won’t be returning to Double Springs Road any time soon.

“It was two gunshot wounds to the head, so his face is absolutely bandaged, he has tubes down his throat,” noted Mary. “It was really the most awful thing I’ve seen in my life.”

Jeffery Underhill has had prior trouble with the law. He was arrested earlier in the year for domestic assault.

But details of the more recent incident that lead to Wednesday’s shooting have not been released.

“He’s made some mistakes, bad decisions; everyone does. He’s always been a good man,” explained his daughter.

While Underhill fights for his life, the investigation moves forward, and the family simply wants answers.

“He has a wife, a daughter, a son; we just want to know what happened,” noted Mary. “There’s so many questions.”

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office has placed the deputy on paid administrative leave. His name has not been released.

Courtesy of WKRN News 2