The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into a shooting on I-65 in which Nashville police, Tennessee Highway Patrol and an off-duty Mt. Juliet officer shot and killed a 37-year-old man.
Investigation underway on I-65 near Harding Pl after MNPD officers,THP troopers & an off-duty Mt Juliet officer fatally shot a 37-yr-old man who had been walking along the Interstate. 2 southbound lanes of I-65 are open. Northbound lanes remain closed beginning at OHB.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) January 27, 2022
The TBI says the incident began when a man, later identified as Landon Eastep, was spotted by a THP trooper walking along the interstate south of Harding Place in Nashville around 2 p.m. Thursday.
In the trooper’s exchange with Eastep, TBI claims things escalated and Eastep produced a boxcutter. TBI says the trooper began negotiations with Eastep, which lasted for a half hour, as back-up officers from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, more THP troopers and the off-duty Mt. Juliet officer also stopped.
Eventually in the interaction, Eastep appeared to reach for his waist and TBI says at least nine of the law enforcement officers fired upon Eastep, who died at the scene. No law enforcement officers were injured.
The TBI later identified the object at Eastep’s waist as a “metal cylindrical object.”
Metro Nashville Community Oversight said it was also on the scene Thursday. Police stopped traffic entirely in the afternoon before reopening two southbound lanes by the end of the day.
This is a developing story. Some things that get reported early on, by the media or law enforcement, could later turn out to be wrong. WPLN News will have updates as the situation develops.
This story was last updated at 9:00 p.m.
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