Nashville police release body camera footage after officer shoots, hurts man after car crash
A Nashville police officer responding to a car wreck Monday said he shot a 20-year-old in the leg after the man reached for a gun.
The Metro Nashville Police Department said Officer Byron Boelter was on his way home from work as a school resource officer at Hunters Lane High School around 2:30 p.m. when he stopped at the scene of a car crash in the 1300 block of Dickerson Pike.
There he encountered the 20-year-old man, who police said reached for a gun on the dashboard, despite Boelter telling him to stop. That's when Boelter fired, striking the man in the leg, MNPD said.
The man was in stable condition at Vanderbilt, according to police.
All officer-involved shootings are investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. Nashville police officers have now shot nine people in 2021, five of whom died.
Records show the man who was shot was booked into jail in Davidson County on Tuesday night on a federal felony charge. MNPD said the charge was unrelated to the shooting.
More: Nashville police have shot eight people this year. Here's who they are and what happened.
Nashville police release body camera footage from shooting
Note: This video may be upsetting to some viewers
MNPD released roughly two-and-a-half minutes of footage from Boelter's body-worn camera.
Police said surveillance footage from a nearby business showed the 20-year-old driving erratically when he struck a Nissan Altima.
Paramedics were treating a mother and daughter who were in the Altima when Boelter arrived, according to MNPD. The young girl, who is seen in the body camera footage, was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Pediatrics for minor injuries, police said.
The body camera footage shows Boelter pulling over at the scene of the wreck. It then shows him approach the driver's side door of the Chevrolet Camaro involved in the wreck as the 20-year-old man passes in front of him. The man then walked back to the passenger side of the vehicle as Boelter looked inside.
The man appeared to reach inside the vehicle, where police said a gun was on the dashboard.
"Just leave that stuff in there, man," Boelter says in the video as he motions to the man to get away. "Just go ahead and go. Go. Go on ahead and go, man."
The video shows Boelter then fire two shots through the open doors of the car at the man, who collapsed into the grass near the passenger side of the car as Boelter yelled at him to stop, stay down and put his hands up.
The video shows Boelter calling for backup as he stood at a distance from the man, who was lying on the ground and crying out in pain.
"Where's the gun at?" Boelter said at one point, as he pointed his gun at the man again. "Just leave it right there, buddy. It's OK, buddy."
The video showed Boelter approach the man and ask him where he was hit.
"Where's the gun, buddy?" Boelter said, as he placed a hand on the man's back.
"Over there somewhere. I don't know, sir," the man said.
"Why'd you reach for it, kid?" Boelter said.
"I was trying to get it out the car, sir," the man said.
"Come on, man," Boelter said, as the video ended.
The gun was recovered at the scene near the Camaro, MNPD said.
Boelter, who has been on the force for 16 years, is on routine administrative assignment as the investigation unfolds. TBI's findings will be reported to the district attorney's office.
Metro Nashville Community Oversight said in a tweet that its investigators were also notified of the shooting and responded to the scene. MNCO said the investigators were able to view the scene without incident and then went to MNPD headquarters to watch the body camera footage. An investigation has been opened. The Community Oversight Board is in place to review cases of alleged misconduct by MNPD. Its next meeting is slated for Tuesday evening.
Adam Friedman is The Tennessean’s evening reporter covering breaking news, crime, cops and a little bit of everything else. If you have a news tip, he wants it. Email him at afriedman@tennessean.com or call him at 731-431-8517.
Reach reporter Rachel Wegner at RAwegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville police release bodycam footage after officer shoots man
