NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Metro Nashville Police officer is recovering in the hospital after a suspect shot him near the airport Thursday afternoon.
Police released the body camera footage of the incident late Thursday night, which showed Officer Donovan Coble get hit, bounce up off the ground, and run for help.
According to police, a team has been working to crack down on car break-ins by the airport. On Thursday, a Parking Spot manager reported an armed man lurking around vehicles. Officers in plain clothes spotted the suspect— Delama Casimir— and he took off toward a neighborhood.
Coble ordered him to stop — that's when police say the suspect shot Coble in the side and he returned fire. He was taken to surgery in critical condition but is expected to survive.
Coble has been with the department for four years. He is 33.
"We are thankful he is going to be OK. The call came in, and he was wounded in the abdomen area," Drake said. "He had a lung that had to be re-inflated. His wife and mom are with him now. It's an open investigation. We did find a weapon near the scene. We are looking to see if there is more. We take care of our people. He does have kids. They are one-year-old twins, and they are in a safe spot."
After Officer Coble was shot, Metro SWAT swarmed the area searching for the shooter. Police shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 for a short time to keep the shooter from getting to the interstate and flagging down a driver.
SWAT members later found the suspect in a brush pile on Upshaw Drive. Police said SWAT officer Tim Brewer saw the suspect's pistol and "perceived a gunshot fired" before he shot Casimir.
Casimir, 37 died Thursday evening at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was receiving treatment. Casimir had a Florida driver's license on him at the time of the incident with an address in Pompano Beach. Police said he has a criminal history.
The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. at 560 Donelson Pike.
Peter Delacruz, a neighbor on Upshaw Drive, said he was panic-stricken when police told him to evacuate his own home.
"We got to the truck. We tried to leave and then SWAT blocked us in," Delacruz said. "I had probably five to seven officers over here who made me park my truck in the street. They used that for cover. They told us to hide behind the brick walls for crossfire."
Delacruz said the law enforcement officers in the yard gave him some level of comfort but that it was nerve-racking.
"You could see on their faces there was distress for sure," he said. "The parking lots across the street from me they were having to go in and out of there over the fences, I mean they ran toward when gunfire happened. They ran toward it."
As of now, Metro Police officers are leading the investigation. The Community Oversight Board has been briefed on the case according to Jill Fitcheard.
"We don’t want the police policing themselves, and so I think it’s always important to have a level of independence, as well as transparency," Fitcheard said. "I think some of the things I saw were like I need more answers on what transpired."
District Attorney Glenn Flunk did not request the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the officer-involved shooting for unknown reasons. This is not the norm for use of force cases per a Memorandum of Understanding:
"Having a set of independent lens on what is happening, I think is a way to build trust," Fitcheard said.
On Friday, Detective Coble was updated to stable condition as the investigation continues.
