[ad_1]
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – Subway Police Chief John Drake answered questions from reporters on Saturday morning following a fatal shooting involving one of his officers.
Nika Holbert died of her injuries on Friday, after Holbert and Constable Josh Baker exchanged gunshots in a Dollar General parking lot on Brick Church Pike.
“I looked at the body camera footage, he seemed to be doing everything he could to try to defuse the situation, including using the taser, including trying not to use his gun,” said Chief Drake.
On the morning of the shooting, Agent Baker arrested a black Chevy Camaro after running the plates through their system and seeing that the car’s owner, Demond Buchanan, had six outstanding drug warrants. Baker quickly realized that the owner was not behind the wheel.
Instead, it was Nika Holbert. Body camera footage released by the MNPD showed Constable Baker found drugs in the car, phoned the radio for backup and attempted to take Holbert into custody. This is where it all got worse.
“Here, do me a favor and turn around,” Baker said.
“No, don’t handcuff me, I haven’t done anything wrong,” replied Holbert, fleeing from the officer.
Video shows Baker warned Holbert that she was about to be amazed. When she retreats into the car, he deploys the taser. Then you can see Holbert reach for something with his right hand. Baker thinks it’s a gun. “Ma’am, put the gun down, put the gun down,” Baker shouted.
Holbert and the officer then exchange shots. Metro police say Baker was shot once, Holbert was shot twice. She then attempted to escape, only to drive the Camaro into a ditch. Holbert later died of her injuries.
“There’s nothing else he could have done better than maybe get off the stage and let her go, and obviously he couldn’t do that,” speculated Chief John Drake.
Drake says Baker couldn’t let her go, because he found her in possession of drugs and because she was driving without a Tennessee driver’s license.
Nika’s mother responds
Nika Holbert’s mother thinks she should never have come to this. She called NewsChannel 5 to share what she thinks was her daughter’s take on this story. She asked us not to use her name in the interests of her own safety.
“There are a thousand scenarios that could have happened where the two could have walked away. My daughter should be alive today,” Holbert’s mother said.
Nika’s mother told NewsChannel 5 that she did not know the owner of the car her daughter was driving. “If I did, I would have him arrested already – yesterday. I don’t know this guy,” she added.
She also said she wasn’t surprised Nika pulled out a handgun, saying she was obviously scared. “He was trying to kill her with that Taser and she was trying to protect herself,” she said.
Holbert’s mother is currently in the process of hiring a lawyer and is considering her legal options.
Latest news on Officer Baker’s condition
Chief John Drake visited injured officer Josh Baker on Saturday morning in his hospital room at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “He was still in a little pain, understandably. His stomach had been – he had had surgery so he was still a little groggy,” Drake said.
The force’s 14-year veteran could be released in the coming days.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations is still reviewing the case, but it will ultimately be District Attorney General Glenn Funk if further legal action is taken.
Here’s the full press conference with Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake:
[ad_2]
Source link