Engineer Mark Capps Killed In Police-Involved Shooting

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Mark Capps, the Grammy-winning recording engineer, was shot and killed Thursday (Jan. 5) by a Nashville SWAT team member. He was 54.

According to multiple reports, Mark was killed when police responded to an incident in which he had allegedly held his wife and adult stepdaughter hostage.

Police said that Mark’s wife and stepdaughter escaped from the home Thursday morning and filed a report. The SWAT team showed up at the house and when Mark presented a gun in his doorway, he was shot.

Days before the incident, Mark lost his brother, Jeff Capps, another member of the music community in Nashville. Mark and Jeff are the sons of the late Jimmy Capps, a prolific studio guitarist and a member of the Grand Ole Opry’s house band for more than 50 years. Jimmy Capps died in June of 2020.

Mark Capps’ credit list includes a wide array of country greats, including Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Young, Aaron Tippin, Conway Twitty, Joe Diffie, the Oak Ridge Boys, Big & Rich, John Michael Montgomery, Kenny Rogers, and The Chicks. He is also credited on projects for Neil Diamond, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, the Gaither Vocal Band, Barry Manilow, Donna Summer, the Mavericks, Anita Cochran, Kenny Loggins, and Olivia Newton-John.

For the last 18 years, Mark Capps has been an integral employee of The Isaacs. In a social media post, the group shared that, “this conduct does not represent the Mark that [they] have known.”

Mark was a four-time Grammy winner for his work with Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra.

Mark is preceded in death by his father, Jimmy Capps; mother, Anne Bridges Capps; and brother, Jeffery Allen Capps.

He is survived by his wife Tara Solomon Capps, daughter Summer Capps, bonus daughter Mollie Mckenzie Acuff, stepmother Michele Voan Capps, his Isaacs family: Lily Isaacs, Ben Isaacs, Sonya Isaacs Yeary, Becky Isaacs Bowman; also “Poppa” Jimmy Fortune; along with aunts, uncles, cousins and many special friends.

A celebration of life service will be held for Mark on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 1:00 p.m. at Sellars Funeral Home at Mount Juliet, 2229 N. Mount Juliet Road, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 10 from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., and on Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. until service begins.

LB Cantrell
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