Wanted Tennessee veteran found dead after dayslong manhunt, officials say

A 53-year-old Army Special Forces veteran wanted in a domestic shooting was found dead Wednesday from an apparent gunshot wound, ending a dayslong manhunt across rural northern Tennessee. Authorities said Craig Berry likely died by suicide after fleeing into the woods near his Dover home and remaining on the run for several days.

Deputies were called to Berry’s residence around 1:30 a.m. on May 1 after a domestic altercation. Officials said Berry allegedly shot his wife and ran into nearby woods before deputies arrived, leaving investigators to search the Stewart County countryside along the Kentucky border, about 75 miles northeast of Nashville. By the time the search began, Berry was already being treated as armed and dangerous, and the U.S. Marshals Service said his military background and survival training could make the search last longer than usual.

The manhunt drew in the Stewart County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service. Berry was added to the Tennessee Most Wanted list and was wanted on charges including attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Investigators said he was last seen alive on May 2 near Old Paris Landing in Dover, and a trail-camera image showed him in camouflage clothing.

Officials said search teams located Berry’s body Wednesday and that initial indications showed he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The U.S. Marshals Service later said he was dead and no longer a threat to the public. The victim was identified as a teacher at Stewart County High School, and Stewart County Schools told families and staff that the incident did not happen on school grounds and that there was no ongoing threat to schools. Support services were made available for students and staff who needed help.

The wife was taken to a medical facility after the shooting. Later reports said she was hospitalized and in stable condition. Stewart County, a quiet stretch of northwest Tennessee near Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee-Kentucky border, saw its rural road network and woods turned into the center of an intensive search that ended only after authorities said Berry could no longer pose a danger.