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CPD Officer Explains Why He Didn't Shoot Jul

342 views · Published 23 January 2015 · 2:48 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2015 · News & Politics

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"We went gun to gun. I looked at her, she was looking at me. She had a totally blank expression on her face."

Officer Rick Engle was the last person Julia Shields encountered on her December 26th shooting spree across Hixson. 

After pointing a gun at him, and complying when he told her to drop it, she was arrested. 

But during Shields' preliminary hearing Thursday, Officer Engle says divine intervention and his training saved both of their lives.

"The key to the encounter was her compliance," says Engle. "I told her to do something and she complied with it. Training teaches us to watch the hands, that was what we were doing at that point in time."

Because Shields didn't have her finger on the trigger, her life was spared. 

But police say that wasn't what she wanted.

"Officer Engle, was it your impression she wanted to be shot?" asked Hamilton County Judge Gary Starnes.

With Officer Engle's affirmation, the hearing ended.

Shields facing a laundry list of charges in connection with the shootings, included attempted first-degree murder.

Officer Engle compared Shield's behavior to that of a teenager, and he later learned the gun wasn't loaded. 

"Miss Shields at that point in time looked at me like she wanted me to kill her. Her whole mental outlook, frame of mind, the way she presented herself... it seemed she did want me to shoot her. It seemed to me there was some sort of mental illness," says Engle.

Outside the courtroom, officers commended Engle for his careful actions that day.

But Engle says, he's not a hero.

"The only reason both of us woke up the next morning is she complied. That's the difference between this situation and other situations."

Shields remains in custody on a $750,000 bond.

Her case was turned over to a Grand Jury. 

By: Kelsey  Bagwell

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