Craig Berry, a retired Army Special Forces veteran wanted for allegedly shooting his wife at their Dover, Tennessee, home, was found dead after a multi-agency manhunt that stretched across Stewart County for days. Deputy United States Marshal Christian A. Marrero told Fox News Digital that Berry is dead and "no longer a threat to the public."
The Stewart County Sheriff's Office said initial indications show Berry died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The office did not disclose the exact location or date of his discovery.
Berry had been wanted on charges of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, domestic assault, and leaving the scene of an accident. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had placed him on its Most Wanted list. The U.S. Marshals Service offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to his capture. None of it proved necessary. The fugitive apparently ended the search himself.
The incident began early on a Friday morning at the couple's house in Dover, a small town in Stewart County. Stewart County Sheriff Frankie Gray told NBC News that Berry's wife tried to flee the area in her car before Berry fired a shot at her. Gray said Berry then attempted to follow her but crashed the vehicle, which was described as totaled.
Berry's wife suffered injuries the sheriff described as "life-threatening." She was taken to a hospital but has since been released. Her name has not been publicly disclosed. Stewart County Schools confirmed on Facebook that she is a schoolteacher in the district.
The school district's statement addressed the community directly: "We are aware of a serious incident involving one of our staff members. We understand this news may be upsetting to students, staff, and families. Please know that this incident did not occur on school grounds, and there is no ongoing threat to our schools." The district added: "Our thoughts are with our staff member and her loved ones during this time. We will continue to respect her privacy."
After the crash, Berry fled on foot into the dense woods of Stewart County, terrain that would challenge any search team, let alone one tracking a man with decades of Special Forces training.
An Army spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Berry served as an infantryman and Special Forces medical sergeant from 1992 to 2016, leaving the service as a sergeant first class. He deployed to Iraq four times between 2003 and 2014. Deputies described him as an "excellent swimmer and diver" in "good physical shape" with "extensive training."
That profile made the manhunt especially dangerous. The sheriff's office warned on social media that Berry was considered "armed and dangerous." A trail camera captured him wearing camouflage clothing. He was last seen near River Trace Road.
When law enforcement pursues a suspect with that kind of background through miles of wooded terrain, the stakes for officers and nearby residents rise sharply. It recalls other recent multistate manhunts where the outcome remained uncertain until the very end.
Sheriff Gray called the search "urgent" and warned Stewart County residents to "lock all your doors." He said he was concerned Berry might try to steal a car.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol told Fox News Digital it was assisting the Stewart County Sheriff's Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service with helicopters and troopers as needed. The state agency released video showing troopers pushing through a densely wooded area in the hours after the shooting, with a bloodhound leading officers along the trail.
By Monday, the sheriff's office said authorities were conducting a "very detailed search" spanning from River Trace Road to Highway 79 to parts of Highway 232. The search area covered a significant stretch of rural Stewart County, thick forest, limited roads, and few eyes on the ground.
Breitbart reported that Berry was found dead in woods several miles from his home. Preliminary findings indicated he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after fleeing. The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed: "We can confirm Craig Mark Berry is deceased and no longer a threat to the public."
The New York Post confirmed the same core details, that Berry was found dead, that authorities believe the wound was self-inflicted, and that his wife survived her life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital.
Sheriff Gray told NBC News that investigators had spoken with Berry's wife several times. He said there was a possible "financial situation" involving the couple but declined to speculate on any "problems" between them. One family member spoke with Berry on the phone just after the incident, Gray said.
The case raises questions that remain unanswered. Authorities have not disclosed what Berry said during that phone call, whether he gave any indication of his intentions, or whether the family member attempted to persuade him to surrender. The sheriff's office has not said whether Berry's body was found along the established search corridor or somewhere outside it.
Domestic violence cases that escalate to attempted murder and end with the suspect's death leave a community with a particular kind of wreckage, a surviving victim, a school district managing the fallout, and neighbors who spent days locked inside their homes. In rural communities like Dover, the effects linger. The case echoes other recent investigations where evidence emerged slowly and answers remained scarce even as the search consumed public attention.
No formal determination of Berry's cause of death has been announced beyond the sheriff's office statement that "initial indications" point to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Whether a medical examiner's report will follow, and on what timeline, has not been disclosed.
For days, Stewart County residents lived under a warning to stay indoors and lock their doors while a trained Special Forces veteran, armed, desperate, and familiar with the terrain, moved through the woods around them. The Tennessee Highway Patrol deployed helicopters. The TBI added Berry to its Most Wanted list. The U.S. Marshals posted a reward.
The scale of the response reflected the reality of the threat. This was not a routine fugitive search. Berry's military record, 24 years of service, four combat deployments, Special Forces medical training, meant every officer in those woods understood they were tracking someone who knew how to survive, evade, and fight.
That kind of threat demands the coordinated, aggressive law enforcement response that Stewart County received. Credit belongs to the sheriff's deputies, state troopers, TBI agents, and U.S. Marshals who pushed through dense terrain for days to protect a rural community. Cases like this one, much like other violent-crime pursuits across the country, test the capacity of local agencies to coordinate under pressure.
Berry's wife, a schoolteacher whose name has been kept out of public reporting, survived. She is out of the hospital. The district asked for privacy on her behalf.
The manhunt is over. But for the people of Stewart County, and especially for one teacher and her family, the consequences of what happened early that Friday morning in Dover are just beginning. When someone trained to protect this country turns that training against his own household, the failure is personal, but the cost is borne by an entire community that had to live with the danger until it finally ended.
The officers who walked those woods deserve the country's thanks. The woman who survived deserves its prayers. And the rest of us are left with the hard reminder that the people most capable of harm are sometimes the ones closest to home.