What We Know About Thursday's Shooting at the Federal Courthouse

A man armed with a gun and knife was shot and killed by a security guard at the federal courthouse in downtown Nashville Thursday morning.

Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron told Scene sister publication the Nashville Post that a 42-year-old man from out of state entered the front doors of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse at approximately 9:30 a.m.; he approached the security checkpoint and attempted to fire a pistol. Aaron said the gun did not fire. The man, who has yet to be identified, reportedly then brandished a knife.

“The court security individual who was manning the checkpoint opened fire on the individual, critically wounding him,” Aaron said. “He was transported to [Vanderbilt University Medical Center] where he died.”

It’s not yet known why the man was at the courthouse.

Authorities and police K-9s searched the man’s car, which was parked on Seventh Avenue North, and found “nothing threatening,” according to Aaron.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the case, per a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Marshals Service, the entity that contracts the security guards for the federal courthouse.

Aaron said both the gun and knife have been recovered and the MNPD, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are looking into the man’s background.

The federal courthouse as well as the nearby downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library are closed for the remainder of Thursday.

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Scene.