Nashville officers fatally shoot man after standoff on interstate

Nine Tennessee police officers on Thursday shot and killed a pedestrian who was wielding a box cutter on a major interstate near Nashville, according to authorities.

The shooting involved officers from three separate police departments, including the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD), Tennessee Highway Patrol and a police officer from the suburb of Mt. Juliet, according to an MNPD press briefing on Friday.

Six officers from the MNPD were placed on leave following the incident, the briefing reported. The Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a tweet that further information would come from an investigation. No additional information was immediately available from Mt. Juliet police.

The man who was shot, 37-year-old Landon Eastep, of Nashville, died at the scene of the shooting, according to a Thursday release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, which is investigating the incident. The MNPD said it is is conducting an internal investigation.

Just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, a Tennessee highway patrol officer encountered Eastep sitting on a guardrail on the shoulder of I-65, according to the MNPD’s press briefing.

The trooper “approached Eastep with the intent of giving him a ride off the interstate,” said Don Aaron, a spokesperson for MNPD. “After a brief interaction, the trooper reported Eastep pulled [out] a box cutter.”

An off-duty officer with a police department in Mt. Juliet, a suburb of Nashville, then pulled over and tried to de-escalate the situation, which took about 30 minutes, according to the briefing.

Body-worn camera footage shows Eastep standing in the middle of the highway as officers attempt to calm him down. Eastep held the box cutter in his left hand and his right hand in his pocket, Aaron said.

“Landon, come on, brother,” said Mt. Juliet officer James Kidd in the video footage. “Let me help you out. You will not end up in jail.”

The video showed more officers arriving on scene. Eventually, Eastep took a step forward and appeared to pull something out and brandish it at the police officers. They then opened fire.

Aaron said Eastep had taken out a box cutter, not a firearm.

“Nine law enforcement personnel fired their weapons after Eastep took a stance as if he had a firearm,” Aaron said. 

Six MNPD officers, two state troopers and the Mt. Juliet officer participated in the shooting.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) said in the Thursday release that agents were “working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews.”

“Throughout the process, investigative findings will be shared with the District Attorney General for his further review and consideration,” the agency said. “The TBI acts solely as fact-finders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters. That decision rests with the District Attorney General requesting TBI’s involvement.”