BALTIMORE — The FBI on Tuesday was reviewing the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Roy McGrath, a former Maryland governor’s chief of staff turned international fugitive, who died after an encounter with federal agents trying to apprehend him in suburban Tennessee.
Law enforcement agencies in Tennessee on Tuesday directed inquiries to the FBI, which was largely mum on the circumstances that led to McGrath’s fatal shooting the previous night — including whether it was self-inflicted.
The gunfire erupted about 6:30 p.m. Eastern time Monday in a suburban area west of Knoxville surrounded by businesses. Describing the fatal encounter as an “agent-involved shooting” on Monday, the FBI gave no further explanation Tuesday about what happened and would not say whether the fatal gunfire came from federal agents, McGrath or both.
The FBI field office’s special supervisory special agent, Shayne Buchwald, said in a statement Tuesday that the FBI would review the shooting, as it does all incidents involving an FBI special agent. The agency said Monday it would be investigated by its Inspection Division.
“The review will carefully examine the circumstances of the shooting, and collect all relevant evidence from the scene,” Buchwald said. “As the review remains ongoing, I cannot further comment at this time, only to comment Mr. McGrath was transported to the hospital last evening and succumbed to his injuries.”
McGrath, 53, the former chief of staff for then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, was accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state, including improperly collecting a $233,000 severance package from a government-owned nonprofit, the Maryland Environmental Service. He resigned in April 2020, shortly after the severance package, equal to one year’s salary, was revealed.
He was slated to begin a federal trial March 13 but never showed up. According to his attorney, Joseph Murtha, McGrath was supposed to meet him at the courthouse in downtown Baltimore. When he didn’t show, a search was launched. It grew to include FBI wanted posters with aliases and a $20,000 reward for the “international flight risk.”
Several questions remain, following the three-week search for the ex-chief of staff. For instance: Whose gunfire struck McGrath, killing him?
Sources told The Baltimore Sun on Monday night that McGrath had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound; the FBI said that’s what the agency initially told people close to the investigation. A spokesperson later described it only as an “agent-involved shooting,” declining to say whether McGrath was shot by a federal agent, himself or both.
Photos from the scene on Monday showed a white Cadillac SUV with broken windows, surrounded by caution tape and unmarked vehicles.
The owner of the SUV remains unclear, as does McGrath’s location prior to Monday night when agents closed in.
Another question: If McGrath did have a weapon with him, where did it come from?
Court documents showed a U.S. magistrate judge had ordered McGrath’s wife to surrender a firearm by Oct. 29, 2021. He was also ordered to report to a probation office in Florida and relinquish his passport.
McGrath was located and wounded in Farragut, an affluent suburb of Knoxville, along one of the city’s main business drags. The 10700 block of Kingston Pike, where he was shot, is surrounded by local and chain businesses including a Gold’s Gym, a game store, a salon, a Sonic Drive-In, Costco, Walgreens and a couple auto shops.
Leslie Bryant, owner of the nearby Salon Amie, stepped outside the business to see a police presence around 6:40 p.m., which she believes was after the altercation had occurred.
“I just saw a whole lot of police presence and FBI and, you know, of course, ambulance, fire trucks, that whole situation,” Bryant said Tuesday. She described yellow tape that blocked off the area. By the time she left work around 7:45 p.m. Monday, the police presence was still there.
Farragut has a median per capita income of about $60,000, which is roughly $24,000 higher than Knox County’s as a whole, according to 2021 U.S. Census data.
The standoff occurred about a mile from Turkey Creek Medical Center, but McGrath was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center, officials told WVLT-TV. The university hospital is a level-one trauma center about 15 miles away.
Sarah Daniel, who was working Monday at Farragut’s Tropical Smoothie Cafe, saw a “bunch” of ambulances and police vehicles driving down nearby Lovell Road around 6 or 6:30 p.m.
“A bunch of the parents of our employees were, you know, texting their kids and making sure they were all OK,” Daniel said.
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