The body camera of one of the uniformed men captured the entire moment.
The moment when nine Tennessee Police officers repeatedly shot a man carrying a scalpel and an unidentified “cylindrical metal object” during a confrontation on a highway, was recorded on video and served to investigate the events.
Landon Eastep, 37, was shot to death Thursday following officers tried to negotiate with him for more than half an hour to get him to drop an alleged weapon he had in his pants pocket, according to police reports.
The incident unfolded when a police officer found Eastep sitting at a security barrier on the north side of Interstate 65 in Nashville on Thursday followingnoon.
When the officer approached the man, he pulled a scalpel from one of his pockets, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said.
An off-duty Mount Juliet officer stopped and tried to calm Eastep down, as other officers arrived.
“The Mount Juliet officer attempted to de-escalate the situation and engage in dialogue with Eastep for regarding 30 minutes while Eastep held the scalpel in his left hand and kept his right hand in his pocket,” Aaron said.
Body camera footage from Officer James Kidd shows officers pointing a gun at Eastep and begging him to put down the scalpel.
“Whatever you’re worried regarding, we can fix it, but we’re going to get you help,” the agent says.
“This is not the answer, you and I know it. You don’t want to hurt me, I know you don’t. And you know that I don’t want to hurt you, right?
Eastep, ignoring the pleas of the agents, takes something out of the other pocket of his pants and points it at one of them. According to later reports, the “cylindrical metal object” was not a firearm.
In all, six Nashville Metropolitan Police officers, two Tennessee Highway Patrol officers and the off-duty Mount Juliet officer fired their weapons.
The shooting is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Officer Brian Murphy, a 25-year veteran of the Nashville Police Department, and one of the nine officers who opened fire, has been removed from duty, local media report.
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