Skydiver’s Accident Still Under Investigation

Washington County authorities said Monday that there are no “suspicious circumstances” regarding the death of a skydiver at a high school football game Friday night. 55 year old Richard Sheffield of Elizabethton was part of a skydiving team from Greeneville performing before the start of the Mucket Bowl between Daniel Boone and David Crockett football teams. Sheffield crashed onto the football field Friday night around 6:30 pm. He was airlifted to the Johnson City Medical Center where he died early Saturday. Authorities have not released a cause for what they say appears to be a tragic accident, but the investigation into what happened is continuing. A representative from Jump Tennessee, who was the group performing stated that Richard Sheffield was an experienced skydiver with over 1,500 jumps since he began in 1999.