Delke, 25, is accused of killing Daniel Hambrick, 25, last July in North Nashville. He had initially been charged with criminal homicide, including murder, willful homicide and homicide by criminal negligence under the Tennessee law.
The Nashville-Davidson County Attorney's Office announced the indictment on Friday in a case that provoked outrage among residents and the creation of an accountability committee of the police.
Delke was indicted after the authorities released a surveillance video showing Delke, who is white, pursuing Hambrick, who is black, until the officer points his gun. Hambrick falls to the ground in seconds.
The officer alleged that he had seen Hambrick holding a rifle and asked him to drop it because the two men were running, says a warrant, adding that Delke had stated that M Hambrick had not dropped his gun. Authorities said they recovered a handgun at the scene of the incident.
Delke's lawyer, David Louis Raybin, stated that his client had the intention of pleading not guilty.
"Constable Andrew Delke will continue to defend himself by invoking the fact that he acted in accordance with his training and the law of Tennessee in response to an armed suspect who ignored the repeated orders of Abandon his weapon, "Raybin said.
19659003] "No citizen wants a trial for such charges, but officer Delke and his defense team will trust the jury system," he said. Raybin.
Delke, who is in administrative service while the criminal case is ongoing. , must be continued later this month, said a spokesman of the prosecutor's office.
The murder of Hambrick and the shooting death in 2016 of another officer resulted in the creation of a community oversight board in Nashville. An amendment for its creation was approved in the November elections, and the city is questioning candidates for its board of directors, said WTVF, an affiliate member of CNN.
The Shooting
The incident began while the officers threatened a minor of the department. Working group, including Delke, were looking for stolen vehicles in North Nashville, says the warrant. Officers said they saw a car drive several miles away "irregularly," the Tennessee Investigation Bureau said last month.
According to the warrant, Delke "became suspicious" when a white Chevrolet Impala stopped in front of a stop sign. "conceded the right of way by not shooting in front of him."
Delke examined the license plate of the car, says the warrant, and discovered that the Impala was not a stolen vehicle. But the officer still followed the vehicle "to see if he could develop a motive to stop the Impala"
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Finally, Delke lost track of the car, says the warrant. While searching, he "confused the Impala with another four-door white sedan" in the parking lot of a building.
As the policeman approached, Hambrick ran, and Delke chased him away, while Delke stopped him. The warrant states that there is no reason to believe that Hambrick was tied to a stolen vehicle.
In the lawsuit, Delke saw a gun in Hambrick's hand, according to the warrant. The officer gave several verbal orders to Hambrick, including: "Let go of your weapon or I shoot," says the report.
Delke decided to shoot when Hambrick kept running and did not drop his gun, says the warrant. The officer fired four times, says the warrant. Hambrick was hit in the back of the head, in the back and left chest, a fourth bullet touching a nearby building.