A nearly 20-hour manhunt in Scottsboro over the weekend ended Saturday night with the capture of 29-year-old Daniel Victor McCarn, following a domestic incident and officer-involved shooting that prompted a statewide Blue Alert and a massive multi-agency search effort.
The incident began around 1 a.m. Saturday, July 26 when the Scottsboro Police Department responded to a domestic violence call on Ruth Street. According to reports from multiple news outlets, McCarn fled the scene in a vehicle, leading officers on a police chase. The pursuit ended in a crash at the intersection of U.S. Highway 72 and County Park Road.
Upon crashing, McCarn allegedly exited the vehicle and opened fire on responding officers, striking one Scottsboro Police Department officer. According to the Scottsboro Police Department, the officer, identified as Lieutenant Derek Porch and is being treated at Huntsville Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“He is doing okay,” Durham said Saturday night. “He had to undergo a procedure earlier, but the injuries he sustained were not life-threatening, so he’s hopeful to make a recovery, and we hope to be seeing him real soon.”
Officials say Lt. Porch, who has been with the department for 29 years, was shot in his left hand.
Following the shooting, McCarn fled on foot, prompting law enforcement to initiate a manhunt that stretched across the day and into the evening. Around 12:15 p.m., the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) Fusion Center issued a Blue Alert, warning the public that McCarn was at large, considered armed and dangerous, and last seen near the crash site.
ALEA described McCarn as a white male, 5’10”, weighing 170 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was identified as being from Huntsville. ALEA advised the public to avoid the area and to call 911 with any information on his whereabouts.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to assist, including the Jackson, Madison, DeKalb, and Marshall County sheriff’s offices, Madison and Marshall County SWAT teams, the FBI, U.S. Marshals, ATF, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Huntsville Police Department, and Scottsboro Fire and EMS personnel.
At one point, six to eight drones were in the air.
“We put the drone up, we looked around for a little bit, and we were able to locate a heat signature adjacent to the railroad tracks,” an SPD official said during a press update shared on WHNT. “We utilized the drone to put it over Mr. McCarn, sent a team of people in there to locate what we thought was Mr. McCarn. And a team of about six to eight officers went in there, located him adjacent to the railroad tracks, and was able to take him into custody without incident.”
The drone, equipped with FLIR thermal imaging technology, was instrumental in spotting McCarn’s body heat as he hid near railroad tracks off Old Larkinsville Road. Officers quickly surrounded the area and arrested McCarn without further conflict. WHNT shared the video provided by the Scottsboro police department of the thermal technology.
Residents living within the police perimeter were asked to remain indoors throughout the day. Cynthia Smith, a long-time Scottsboro resident and wife of former police chief Kevin Smith, told WAFF, “There were officers walking the street, and it kind of startled me at first, but I felt safe because I knew that their presence here meant that we were ok.” Smith said she locked her doors at 5 a.m. Saturday. and did not unlock them until Sunday morning.
McCarn was booked into the Jackson County Jail on charges of attempted murder. On Monday, bond was set at $10 million, but no court date has been announced. WAFF reported he had no prior criminal history in Alabama aside from two minor traffic violations.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has taken over the investigation into both the officer-involved shooting and the original domestic violence complaint. ALEA and other agencies continue to monitor the case and will release further updates as they become available.
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
