Deputies say the evidence follows a predawn path from a disabled power panel to a home intrusion.
RUTLEDGE, Tenn. — A pellet removed from a school board member’s stomach, a stolen cellphone and a switched off breaker box are central to an attempted murder case in Grainger County, deputies said.
Benjamin Mills, 46, is accused of using a power cutoff to draw Steven Ray Blanken outside his home on March 8 before firing at him. Mills faces charges of criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated burglary, theft and kidnapping. Blanken, 62, is a Grainger County Board of Education member facing separate indictments.
The physical trail began at the breaker box. Blanken and his wife were home around 5:20 a.m. when the electricity went out. They could see that a neighbor still had power, so they contacted the electric company. The company said there was no known outage in the area and told them to check the breakers. Blanken went outside and found all of them switched off. Records say two dogs that normally were secured were running loose in the yard. Blanken turned the breakers back on, secured the dogs and returned inside. The lights stayed on only a few minutes before the home went dark again.
The second outage brought Blanken outside into the yard again. Records say his German shepherd was loose when he went back to the breaker box. After restoring power, he heard a man yelling from near the chicken coop. The man, later identified by deputies as Mills, moved toward him and fired. Blanken tried to reach his truck in the driveway, but two more shots followed. One hit the windshield. He ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911. Later that day, a law enforcement officer met with him and took a small rat shot pellet that Blanken said he pulled from his stomach.
The cellphone became the next key item. Blanken’s wife told investigators she was still inside the home when she heard at least one popping sound outside. A man entered, pointed what she thought was a gun and spoke about the criminal allegations against her husband. “Your husband is a pedophile and he’s gonna pay for it,” the man said, according to court records. The intruder ordered her to lie face down on the floor, deputies said. When her phone rang in her hand, he grabbed it and fled. Investigators later found the phone, and authorities said that discovery helped them identify and arrest Mills.
Deputies found the home in a disrupted state when they arrived. The power was off, and the back door was open. Officers made sure the house was safe, then took statements from Blanken and his wife. Neither could provide a full description of the suspect, beyond saying he was tall. The records released publicly do not say where the phone was recovered, whether a gun was found or whether any fingerprints, video or other forensic evidence was collected. They also do not say how the person reached the breaker box or how the dogs got loose twice before the shots were fired.
The charges against Mills line up with the evidence described by deputies. Attempted murder is tied to the shots fired outside. Aggravated burglary is tied to the man entering the home. Theft is tied to the phone taken from Blanken’s wife. Kidnapping is tied to the allegation that she was forced to lie on the floor while the intruder was armed or appeared armed. The sheriff’s department said the underlying incident happened March 8, but the available reports did not list Mills’ next court date. It also was not clear whether he had a lawyer or had entered a plea.
Blanken’s name was already in court records before the alleged attack. Grainger County Schools said a parent came forward Feb. 19 and reported a possible inappropriate relationship between her child and a school board member who also sometimes served as a substitute teacher. The district said administrators notified law enforcement and cooperated with the sheriff’s department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. School officials said they also moved to keep Blanken from substitute teaching in any capacity after the allegation was reported. Blanken was arrested Feb. 27 and later released after posting bond with conditions.
Local court reporting said the allegations against Blanken involve a 16-year-old girl and alleged sexual contact in his vehicle at a remote location in Grainger County between Dec. 23 and Feb. 20. He was first reported charged with statutory rape counts. Later, a grand jury indictment charged him with three counts of aggravated statutory rape. Another indictment filed April 30 charged him with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Those counts alleged possession of material showing a minor engaged in sexual activity or simulated sexual activity in February 2026. Blanken has not been convicted in that case.
The school board addressed Blanken’s position after his arrest. He represents District 2, and school leaders said he was banned from school property. At a special called meeting in March, board members asked District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn to start ouster proceedings if Blanken is found guilty or stands convicted of aggravated statutory rape. That step showed the board was preparing for possible removal, but only after a criminal outcome. Until then, the public office remains tied to the pending court case and to the separate attempted murder case in which Blanken is listed as the shooting victim.
The alleged statement inside the home made the March 8 attack appear connected to the accusations against Blanken, but investigators have not released a full motive statement. They have not said whether Mills knew Blanken personally or whether he had any relationship with the 16-year-old girl, her family or the school system. They also have not said whether the phrase reported by Blanken’s wife was the only statement the intruder made. In the absence of those details, the public record relies on the sequence of events and the evidence gathered from the property.
The case also shows how a small rural property became a crime scene in stages. The breaker box pulled Blanken outside. The loose dogs added confusion and kept him in the yard. The shots pushed him toward the truck and then to a neighbor’s home. The open back door led deputies inside. The phone provided a possible track to a suspect. The pellet gave investigators a physical item linked to Blanken’s account of being hit. Each piece added to a timeline that began before sunrise and ended with four criminal charges against Mills.
Mills’s attempted murder case remains pending, with no public court date listed in the available reports. Blanken’s separate indictments remain pending as well, and any school board ouster action appears tied to the outcome of that case.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.