This story contains video that may be considered disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 37-year-old man was shot and killed by multiple law enforcement officers on Interstate 65 in Nashville Thursday afternoon after at least 30 minutes of tense negotiations.
Metro police released a video statement containing a portion of bodycam footage from officers involved in the deadly shooting of Landon Eastep.
The incident began around 2 p.m. in the northbound lanes when a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper saw Eastep sitting on the side of I-65 near Hogan Road and stopped to offer him a ride off the interstate. Metro police said after a brief interaction, Eastep produced a box-cutter and the trooper called for assistance.
An off-duty Mt. Juliet police officer stopped to help and began trying to de-escalate the situation through dialogue with Eastep, according to Metro police.
For 30 minutes, Metro police said officers tried to negotiate with Eastep as he held the box cutter in his left hand and kept his right hand in his pocket.
On the video, the Mt. Juliet officer can be heard begging Eastep, saying “let me help you” and “Landon, don’t let me go home with this today, brother, please.”
Multiple officers pleaded with Eastep to end the situation and begged him to “let’s just go home.” The Mt. Juliet officer said “we don’t want to hurt you, we don’t want to shoot you and you don’t want to hurt us, right? I got kids to go to, I got a family to go home to…but God put me here so I could help you out today and you know it!”
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Nine officers, including six Metro officers, two THP troopers and the off-duty Mt. Juliet officer, opened fire when Eastep pulled a round, metal object from his pocket that Metro police later reported was not a firearm.
Six Metro officers have been placed on routine administrative leave pending the investigation. They were identified as James Kidd, Justin Pinkleton, Sean Williams, Edin Plancic, Brian Murphy, and Sgt. Steve Carrick.
News 2 obtained video showing the tense encounter near the Hogan Road exit south of downtown Nashville. You can click to see a portion of the footage here (viewer discretion is advised).
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the situation.
Metro Nashville Police released a photo on Friday of the round, metal object Landon Eastep pulled from his pocket moments before the deadly shooting.
Also on Friday, Mayor John Cooper released a statement on the shooting. The Nashville mayor tweeted that he was “disturbed by the shooting death of Landon Eastep,” going on to say, “we will learn from this awful event and continue to do everything we can to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
Metro Police Chief John Drake has directed that Officer Brian Murphy be decommissioned. Officer Murphy has been identified as the person who fired the final two shots from a rifle after Eastep had already hit the ground. An investigation will be launched into Murphy’s actions at the scene. Officer Murphy is a 25-year veteran with MNPD.