At the request of 15th Judicial District Attorney General Jason Lawson, TBI special agents continue to independently investigate the circumstances leading to the deadly shooting of a man during an interaction with an officer from the Mount Juliet Police Department on Wednesday night.
Preliminary information indicates that just after 11:00 p.m., a Mount Juliet officer initiated a traffic stop on Mt. Juliet Road, just north of its intersection with Central Pike. The officer spoke with the female driver, and later swapped with a second officer to speak with the male passenger, identified as 39-year-old Eric Jermaine Allen. As the officer attempted to have Allen exit the vehicle, he moved from the passenger seat to the driver seat and began to drive away. The officer leaned into the vehicle in an attempt to stop Allen and gave commands for him to stop, which Allen ignored. He then drove from the initial scene with the officer fully in the vehicle and commanding him to stop. The officer then attempted to use a taser and issued further warnings trying to deescalate the situation, which Allen ignored, resulting in the officer firing upon Allen, striking him. Though officers rendered aid after the vehicle stopped, Allen died from injuries sustained in the incident. No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident.
TBI agents are 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 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.
The TBI does not identify the officers involved in these types of incidents and instead refers questions of that nature to the respective department to answer as it sees fit.
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