News Sentinel Staff                             

LENOIR CITY — The police officer who fatally shot a Clinton man to death in a controversial incident in March has resigned, Lenoir City Police Chief Don White said Tuesday.

Tyrel Lorenz, 29, of Oak Ridge, quit May 25 when he submitted his resignation letter, which stated it had been a "privilege and honor" to serve the police department and the city, the chief said.

Lorenz was cleared in April by the Loudon County grand jury of any wrongdoing in the March 13 shooting death of Joshua William Grubb, 30.

Lorenz either leaped or fell into the back of Grubb's pickup as Grubb took off from a traffic stop for suspected DUI at Bimbo's, a convenience store on U.S. Highway 321 on March 13.

Grubb was shot nine times through the back window of the pickup about four seconds after Lorenz got in the truck bed and twice yelled for Grubb to stop.

An autopsy showed Grubb was on a mix of alcohol and drugs, including methamphetamine, morphine and Valium. After being shot, Grubb drove across a median separating the four lanes of U.S. 321 and traveled nearly a mile going the wrong way before crashing into a utility pole.

The grand jury in a report concluded Lorenz fired the gunshots at Grubb in "an attempt to stop Grubb as Lorenz was in fear for his life and the safety of others on Highway 321."