Hendersonville Policeman Killed During Foot Pursuit Is Eighth Officer Killed In 2019

A Hendersonville police officer killed during a foot pursuit on the interstate Monday night is the eighth officer to be killed in Tennessee in 2019, the highest number of line-of-duty deaths in the state since 2003.

Police Master Patrol Officer Spencer Daniel Bristol was struck by a vehicle on I-65 near Vietnam Veterans Boulevard and died at Skyline Medical Center. A Navy veteran, Bristol was hired as a police officer in 2015, and leaves behind a wife and 3-year-old daughter. He was 31 years old.

“Spencer Bristol was an example of what an officer should be,” said Hendersonville Police Chief Mickey Miller. “He loved his job and this police department grieves with his family over the loss of our brother.”

Troopers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol say Bristol was struck around 7:44 p.m.

The incident began with a short vehicle chase that led into Goodlettsville. Bristol joined the chase after a failed attempt to spike the fleeing vehicle, which was disabled in a car crash. The driver, 19-year-old Kevin Jordan, was immediately arrested. The passenger, whom police identify as 19-year-old Emani Martin, fled across the interstate.

Bristol was hit by oncoming traffic in an attempt to apprehend the passenger. The investigation is ongoing, but Miller says he isn’t aware of any charges against the driver who struck Bristol.

Martin was captured Tuesday and charged with evading arrest and criminal responsibility for reckless endangerment. He has been booked into the Sumner County Jail.

The fatality comes at the end of unusually deadly year for Tennessee law enforcement. It follows the deaths of Metro Police Officer John Ralph Anderson IV during another pursuit in July, prison administrator Debra Johnson in a suspected assault in August and Cheatham County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Michael Reece in an automobile crash in November.

Only one officer died statewide in Tennessee in 2018 and only two in 2017.

Chief Miller says it’s been nearly 20 years since the Hendersonville Police Department has lost an officer in the line of duty.

“I never saw anyone that wanted to be a police officer as much as he did,” said Chief Miller.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story identified 26-year-old Rodney Farmer as the person suspected of fleeing Officer Bristol. Farmer was arrested during the investigation but is no longer believed to have been in the vehicle.