A veteran Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy, his personnel file replete with high marks and praise from supervisors.
A young man, barely an adult, whose life has long been spinning out of control from bipolar disorder, drugs and booze.
On Thursday afternoon, inside a mobile home on Canton Hollow Road in Farragut, their lives collided.
In a barrage of gunfire, Jordan Camp was killed.
KCSO Sgt. Mike Ledbetter suffered a leg wound, possibly from a bullet's ricochet, and faces multiple surgeries to heal.
Camp's short life included a series of encounters with law enforcement, mostly for minor offenses.
In 2011, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for attempting to strangle his sister. In lieu of a three-year jail sentence, he was placed in an alternatives-to-prison program.
Camp's troubles extended back at least to age 14, when he began using marijuana.
At age 16, he was hospitalized for "mental issues" and was prescribed medicine for bipolar disorder, according to a court document. He attended Farragut High School and obtained a GED.
His juvenile arrest record included charges of aggravated criminal trespassing, simple assault, car burglary and curfew violations, according to Richard
Bean, superintendent of the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center.
Camp's criminal record as an adult included various arrests on minor charges, many ultimately dismissed.
Then came the 2011 attack on his sister.
The alternatives-to-prison program he was placed in contained a long list of rules, including a curfew, employment, mandatory mental health treatments, drug testing, regular check-ins with a supervisor, and no weapons, no booze and no drugs.
Camp consistently broke many of those rules, according to his case file.
On Sunday, after a traffic accident at the corner of View Harbour Road and Woody Road past his curfew, he stabbed the other motorist and ran, authorities said. Camp lived in the View Harbour subdivision area, not far from Canton Hollow Road.
That stabbing led to the arrest warrants that KCSO deputies were searching for him to serve.
Ledbetter is recovering at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. He underwent four hours of surgery on Thursday and faces more surgery, according to KCSO spokeswoman Martha Dooley.
"A major artery was damaged, which caused substantial blood loss," Dooley said. "Preliminary evidence at the scene indicates Sgt. Ledbetter may have been struck by a ricocheting round, with the origin yet to be determined. According to the surgeon, the numerous particles in the officer's leg are so small that there may be nothing to recover."
KCSO officials said officers at the scene fired a total of about 47 shots. Authorities haven't said how many shots -- if any -- either Ledbetter or Camp fired or how many times Camp was shot.
According to a KCSO incident report, Camp was armed with a Ruger brand rifle. The report did not state the type or caliber of the rifle.
Camp -- wanted for aggravated assault, leaving the scene of an accident and a probation violation -- was spotted by a deputy Thursday near the door of the mobile home, according to the report.
"Gunfire was exchanged after Camp brandished a rifle, pointing the barrel of the weapon directly at officers," the report states. "Camp's actions placed several officers in fear of imminent bodily harm and/or death. As a result of the gunfire, Officer Ledbetter was wounded and Camp was killed."
Ledbetter began his KCSO career in 1995 as a corrections officer. He was later promoted to patrol officer and in 2008 to sergeant.
His personnel file shows consistent marks of "above average" or "distinguished" -- the two highest -- in all phases of his work. He was once designated "Officer of the Month."
"One of the most respectful officers, with both peers and the general public, I have ever worked with," one supervisor wrote.
Copyright 2013 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
