Nashville officer fatally shoots man with two butcher knives, police say

A police officer shot and killed a man during a traffic stop in Nashville, Tennessee early Saturday morning after accusing the officer with two butcher’s knives, authorities said.

The shooting took place in the city’s Bordeaux neighborhood around midnight as Officer Christopher Royer was on a routine patrol, Nashville Metropolitan Police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference. following the shooting.

Royer initiated the traffic stop after learning that the license plate on a white Mercedes was registered on a green Chevrolet, Aaron said. While the driver remained cooperative throughout the traffic stop, the passenger immediately got out of the vehicle with two butcher knives.

Body camera images released by police on Saturday show the gunman attempting to get into the officer’s vehicle. The driver can be heard shouting at the man, “What are you doing?” and stop! ”as Royer urged the man to drop his gun.

“I don’t want to shoot you,” the policeman heard yelling in the video footage as he repeatedly called for backup.

Aaron said Royer backed up 25 yards from his police car as the armed passenger started running towards him. As the man approaches, Royer appears in the video footage to fire three shots at the man’s chest before collapsing in the middle of the street.

The man died after being taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Aaron said. The authorities did not disclose his name.

“What you don’t see on this is that when he was ashore there were five officers who assisted this individual,” Police Chief John Drake said at the press conference. .

While Royer likely had a stun gun available, Drake said the officer faced a deadly situation and responded appropriately.

When asked what prompted Royer to check the white Mercedes license plate, Drake said his department was dealing with “a number of stolen vehicles, typically around 3,000 per year. use tags all the time to determine whether vehicles are stolen or not. “

Royer, a four-year veteran of the police service, has been placed on an administrative assignment as the agency conducts an administrative review, Aaron said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the District Attorney’s Office are also investigating the fatal shooting.

An investigation into whether the white Mercedes was reported stolen is also underway, Drake added.