Tennessee police officers repeatedly pleaded with a man who stopped traffic along Interstate 65 to drop a box cutter and surrender, saying no one wanted to hurt him.
"Nine law enforcement personnel fired their weapons after Eastep took a stance as if he had a firearm," Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said in the video. The confrontation began when a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer saw Eastep sitting on a guardrail and stopped to offer him a ride. After a brief interaction, the man pulled a box cutter and the trooper called for backup, police said. Many other officers arrived, blocking traffic in both directions as a helicopter circled overhead.
"Come on brother, just drop the knife, get your hand out of your pocket. If that's a gun what you've got in there, don't worry about it, we'll figure it out! We'll fix it!" the officer said."Brother, look I don't have a damn vest on and I still stopped ... because I want you to go home today. I don't want you to end up dead on the side of the interstate. Nobody wants that," the officer said.
i support police using necessary force but you can definitely use a taser against a box cutter
American police departments need to adopt non-lethal means of restraining folks, whether they're in mental crisis or dangerous to themselves or others.
Amazing job
Suicide by police officer. Some other story his wife said he had bipolar, was on edge before he left home and the officers should have helped him instead of drawing their guns. Yeah, let's see how well that would work in Chicago when someone reaches into their pocket
E X E C U T I O N. Fkn ridiculous 🤬
Sad seems like a good shoot to me. The guy was probably looking for a way out either the cutter or a car was going to take him out.
Did none of them have tasers?
Over zealous and trigger happy —
And what if he shot the cop not wearing a vest? He stood there for 30 minutes leading them to believe he had a gun… this is suicide by cop.
..before murdering him. I finished your headline for you.
Why not take him what the heck is a box cutter going to do
* read story
9 for a box cutter.