Authorities in Tennessee have released body and dashcam footage of a violent traffic stop outside a Dollar General store that left a Metro Nashville police officer critically wounded and another woman dead.
Metro Nashville Police Officer Josh Baker thought he was pulling over a wanted man when he stopped 31-year-old Nika Nicole Holbert late Friday morning, the Tennesseean reported. He’d been patrolling Brick Church Pike around 9 a.m. when he spotted a black 2015 Chevrolet Camaro registered to Desmond Buchanan, wanted at the time on six outstanding warrants related to drug charges.
Holbert of Madison, Tennessee has a long criminal record. A rap sheet released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has listed multiple offenses committed by Holbert, from driving under a revoked license to public indecency and for using an altered or false document. She also has a felony drug charge from 2010. The sheet indicates that her last interaction with law enforcement was in 2017 when she was charged with public indecency.
Officer Baker attempted to detain Holbert after he found a powdery substance and marijuana in her bag. As she resisted arrest, he first used his taser on Holbert, who then pulled out a handgun. “Ma’am, put the gun down!” Baker yells. He is shot in the torso and returns fire before collapsing on the ground. Holbert managed to make it to a nearby intersection before losing control and crashing. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Skyline Medical Centre.
It is unclear how Holbert knew Buchanan, a 42-year-old convicted felon who owns the Camaro she was driving. It is also unclear if the drugs Baker found belongs to Holbert, or if they were Buchanan’s.
According to AWM:
Baker was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Trauma Center in critical condition and remained hospitalized in stable condition after surgery.
“I’ve reviewed the body cam footage, he appeared to do everything he could to try to de-escalate the situation, including the use of Taser, including trying not to use his firearm,” MNPD Chief John Drake said.
According to Chief Drake, Baker couldn’t release Holbert because she had drugs and didn’t have a driver’s license. “There’s nothing else he could have done better other than maybe leave the scene and let her go away, and obviously, he couldn’t do that,” he said.
However, Holbert’s mother stated that she disagreed with the chief’s assessment and was hiring an attorney, adding that she wasn’t surprised that her daughter pulled a gun on Baker. “He was trying to kill her with that Taser and she was trying to protect herself,” she said.
Watch the bodycam footage below (Graphic):
Sources: OpposingViews, The Police Tribune, Tennesseean