TBI Investigating Fatal Police Shooting in West Nashville

Three Metro police officers fired on a man in West Nashville early Wednesday morning, killing him, police claim, after he charged at them while armed with a knife. The man who was shot has not been identified, although police say he is from Alabama.   

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, as the agency does in all cases in which an on-duty Metro officer fatally shoots someone. This is the fifth fatal police shooting in Nashville in 2021. 

Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron says all three officers were wearing body cameras. That footage has not been released yet, but Aaron has released this version of events:

"A Canine Unit officer was doing routine business checks, as overnight canine officers typically do when not on other calls, as a deterrent to burglaries. The officer passed a Toyota 4Runner in the front parking lot of the Cricket Wireless store at 5 a.m. and pulled in behind it to check it out. After approaching the SUV, the officer saw that the driver was armed with a knife. He repeatedly directed the man to put the knife down. He also radioed for backup. Two other West Precinct officers arrived. Almost immediately after all three officers were on the scene, the man got out of the SUV and charged at them with the knife. The three officers fired. The Canine officer’s dog was not involved whatsoever; he remained in the police vehicle."

As usual, the department's narrative about what happened is the first and, currently, only thing available to the public. The MNPD's framing of shootings involving its officers has been a point of controversy in recent months.  

Metro's Community Oversight Board released a statement of its own saying that its investigators were also on the scene this morning. 

"The investigators were able to view the crime scene and were updated throughout the process," the board said in a tweet. "The team and Executive Director Fitcheard were able to view the BWC/ICC video footage as agreed upon."

Update (9 p.m): MNPD released body-camera footage from the shooting this afternoon. It shows Officer Richard Clemmons engaging the man, who is sitting in his car. Although the knife police say the man was holding isn't visible, Clemmons can be heard telling him to "put down the knife" numerous times. After two more officers arrive, as Clemmons and the other officers are telling him to "put down the knife," he gets out of his car and runs toward Clemmons. The MNPD release includes a picture of the knife police say the man was carrying. You can watch the footage here, with a warning that it is disturbing.