Nashville police say ballistic testing has found that a 21-year-old shot himself during a foot chase Wednesday.
Police say the single shell casing found at the scene came from his semi-automatic pistol, and that testing shows the gun fires only when the trigger is pulled. The department also says an autopsy shows the man died from a single gunshot to the right side of his head.
MNPD declined requests to review incident reports and the forensic lab analysis, because the shooting is part of an ongoing investigation.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tells WPLN News that city police have not requested an outside review. A Community Oversight Board staffer responded to the scene, though it’s unclear if that group would have the authority to investigate.
Police say officers approached the young man in the J.C. Napier public housing complex after someone told them they’d seen a man with a gun. The shooting occurred while he was running away.
MNPD published surveillance footage Wednesday night, which shows the young man running from police and falling to the ground. However, the video freezes several times — a glitch the department attributes to the housing department’s surveillance technology.
After the shooting, the 21-year-old was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member.
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