State agents have taken over an investigation into a fatal shooting by members of the Nashville police SWAT team on Saturday night. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says local officers killed 47-year-old Adrian Cameron.
The incident happened at about 7:45 p.m. at the Days Inn hotel at 3445 Percy Priest Drive.
A police spokesman says officers wanted to question Cameron regarding a recent homicide investigation and say he had a probation violation warrant out for his arrest. They also expected him to be armed.
Footage provided by police shows the SWAT team, including an armored vehicle, surrounded the man’s room. On a loudspeaker, they demanded that he come out. Multiple officers had guns pointed toward the room.
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The first person to emerge was a woman, who officers guided to a nearby hallway. Seconds later, surveillance footage shows Cameron jumping into the doorway and opening fire, before immediately receding, or falling, back into the room. The footage is not clear enough to tell exactly what happened in that moment.
At least nine shots were fired, according to audio from a body-worn camera in the motel parking lot. The department has thus far released an edited briefing video that includes motel surveillance camera footage and an excerpt from one body-worn camera.
Police say no officers were injured. They identified three supervisors as having fired: Lt. Robert Doak, Lt. Jeff Sanders and Sgt. Josh Black.
A police spokesperson say detectives were seeking information from Cameron related to the murder of Josh Evans, 50, of Lebanon, whose body was found last week in the Cumberland River. Cameron’s teen son, who was seen earlier in the day in the same motel, is still being sought for questioning. On Sunday night, police said arrest warrants related to the killing were issued for the teen.
Nashville police have shot eight people — six fatally — this year. Two other people have fatally shot themselves during encounters with officers. As has become standard, the TBI will look into Saturday’s shooting by police and provide findings to District Attorney Glenn Funk.
Metro Nashville Community Oversight says the civilian-run agency also responded to the scene and viewed body-worn camera footage. MNCO, which Nashvillians voted into existence after past high-profile shootings by police, will conduct its own independent investigation.
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