Nashville police have shot 10 people in 2021. Here's who they are and what happened.
Metro Nashville Police Department officers shot 10 people last year. Seven have died, although a medical examiner ruled it was unclear whether one man died because of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or being shot by a SWAT officer.
In all of the shootings, MNPD reported, the people involved either shot an officer, fired shots at officers or pointed guns or other weapons at police.
The Tennessean kept track of people shot by MNPD in 2021. Here is a list of the shootings in the order they took place.
Jan. 27
Shot: Lamon D. Witherspoon, 30
Location: 2200 block of Brick Church Pike
Status: Survived
Witherspoon was shot by an officer in the parking lot of a gas station in the city's Avondale neighborhood
According to MNPD, Witherspoon was an aggravated robbery suspect and had been tracked to the location in a stolen car.
Officers were attempting to arrest Witherspoon, police said, when he ignored multiple commands to exit the car, rammed several police cars and displayed a gun.
Officer Wesley McClelland, on Witherspoon's passenger side, feared for his safety and opened fire when Witherspoon turned toward him with the gun in his hand, police said.
Witherspoon lived and faces aggravated robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges. He is set to appear in court Jan. 26.
March 12
Shot: Nika Holbert, 31
Location: Intersection of Brick Church Pike and Ewing Drive
Status: Died
A morning shoot-out left Nika Holbert, 31, dead and Officer Josh Baker critically wounded near the city's Parkwood Estates neighborhood.
Investigators said Holbert shot Baker in the stomach during a traffic stop around 9:30 a.m., and he returned fire.
Body camera footage showed Baker instructing Holbert to hand over her handbag and informing her of his active body camera. After discovering what appeared to be drugs, Baker attempted to detain Holbert and called for backup. He fired his stun gun at her before the two exchanged gunfire.
Baker survived.
March 12
Shot: A 33-year-old woman
Location: 2800 block of Greer Road
Status: Survived
A 33-year-old woman was shot and injured by Officer Brandon Lopez after a standoff during which she wielded a pickax.
According to MNPD, officers responded to a home in Goodlettsville where a woman had reportedly made statements that she wanted police to shoot her.
Body camera footage of the shooting indicated the arrival of a family member may have escalated the situation into violence.
The interaction ended with the woman in the hospital with serious injuries after Lopez shot her twice.
No officers were injured.
The Tennessean is not naming the woman involved because she survived and was not charged following the shooting.
April 23
Shot: Marvin Veiga, 32
Location: 3200 block of Clarksville Pike
Status: Died
Officer Christopher Royer, a four-year veteran on the force, fatally shot Veiga, 32, a suspect in a Massachusetts homicide.
Veiga was armed with two butcher knives and charged Royer in the city's Bordeaux neighborhood after a traffic stop, MNPD said.
Royer was not injured.
May 1
Shot: Jacob Alexander Griffin, 23
Location: 7600 Nolensville Pike
Status: Died
MNPD SWAT officer Matthew Grindstaff shot Griffin after a long and tense standoff with police at a homeless encampment near the Goodwill store on Nolensville Pike.
A medical examiner ruled it's unclear whether Griffin, who was experiencing homelessness, died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or being shot by a SWAT officer, autopsy results showed.
On the day of the shooting, MNPD spokesman Don Aaron said an officer shot Griffin after Griffin fired his gun twice.
Earlier in the day, Griffin's mother said, her son sent her a series of text messages threatening to kill her and others. He had a gun and sent her pictures of ammunition. At 2:30 p.m., she called 911.
"I really don't want the police to kill him, but I don't want him to kill anyone else either," Karen Griffin said in a recording of the call. She also told officials her son was schizophrenic.
No one else was hurt.
If you or a loved one are at risk, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 1-800-273-8255.
Aug. 3
Shot: Antonio D. King, 22
Location: 1500 block of Antioch Pike
Status: Died
On the morning of Aug. 3, police say, King opened fire at a Smile Direct Facility in Antioch, where he worked as a warehouse worker.
He shot three people: two security guards and a warehouse manager. All three were taken to the hospital and survived.
After the shooting, police followed King down a sidewalk near the facility. As several officers approached King they repeatedly asked him to stop and drop his weapon.
The officers continued to follow King to an intersection, where still armed, he turned around. Footage viewed by The Tennessean appears to show King firing at the officers.
MNPD officers returned fire, with discharges from two officers striking and killing King.
Aug. 11
Shot: Daniel Turney Crowley
Location: 5000 block Charlotte Avenue
Status: Died
An MNPD canine officer was checking on a business in the 5000 block of Charlotte Avenue in the early morning when he noticed a car with an Alabama license plate parked outside a Cricket Wireless store.
The officer approached the vehicle and noticed Crowley in the vehicle with a knife. The officer then called for backup and several other MNPD officers arrived.
After an interaction, Crowley left the vehicle and reportedly charged the officers.
The officers then fired, striking the man and killing him.
Sept. 19
Shot: Adrian Lamont Cameron, 47
Location: 3000 block of Percy Priest Drive
Status: Died
Nashville police sought Cameron out for questioning regarding the death of a Lebanon man.
Detectives and members of a SWAT team arrived at a hotel were Cameron was staying to bring him in.
After repeated commands to surrender, Cameron exited the room and immediately fired down on officers in the hotel’s parking lot, according to the TBI. Three SWAT officers returned fire, striking him.
Cameron died at the hospital. No officers were hurt in the incident.
Dec. 6
Shot: A 20-year-old man
Location: 1300 block of Dickerson Pike
Status: Survived
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, police said.
A man was walking around outside his car, which was involved in the wreck, when he reached for a gun inside the vehicle, despite commands from Boelter to leave it alone, according to police. Boelter then shot the man in the leg.
The 20-year-old man was arrested after being released from the hospital on a federal felony charge unrelated to the shooting, police said. He was pending transfer to federal custody as of Dec. 9.
The Tennessean is not naming the man involved because he survived and was not charged in the shooting.
Dec. 16
Shot: Anthony Marcell Phillips, 39
Location: 900 block of Old Hickory Boulevard (Madison)
Status: Died
Officer Ricardo Cruz fatally shot Phillips after Cruz and other officers responded to reports of an abandoned vehicle on Old Hickory Boulevard and gunfire in the woods nearby. Officers heard several shots upon arrival and repeatedly commanded the person shooting to surrender.
Police said Phillips came to the edge of the woods and appeared to ingest an unknown substance. Body camera footage showed Phillips was on all fours as officers continued to tell him to drop his weapon and surrender. Phillips then fired two more shots, police said, and Cruz returned fire with a single shot, which fatally wounded Phillips.
Phillips had a warrant out for his arrest for tampering with an electronic monitoring device, MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron said. Records show Phillips was convicted of rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 in 2003.
MNPD spokesperson Brooke Reese also said Phillips was under investigation in connection with a shooting on Trousdale Drive on Dec. 15, during which a relative's vehicle was damaged by gunfire.
Phillips' autopsy was still pending as of Dec. 29.
If you or a loved one are at risk, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 1-800-273-8255.
Natalie Neysa Alund is based in Nashville at The Tennessean and covers breaking news across the South for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: These are the people shot in Nashville police shootings so far in 2021
