NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Earlier Tuesday, police surrounded a man in a vehicle near the downtown Nashville jail, where it required the SWAT team.
Police removed the man from the vehicle after a percussion grenade after multiple hours of negotiation. Officers were on the scene around Gay Street and Second Avenue North.
The man has now been identified as Ira Whitehorn. He has a criminal history dating back to 2011.
Whitehorn was booked into Metro Corrections on multiple weapons and drug charges. He is not eligible for release at this time.
Family members who watched the standoff unfold say Whitehorn was troubled and needed help. They said they hoped this arrest would lead to getting him the help he needed.
Officers yelled at the man to get on the ground and pulled him out of the vehicle.
You can watch the standoff as it happened in the livestream below
Police said the person circled the area in a rental car and would drive off when police asked the individual to stop. The SWAT team was called, and authorities blocked the roadways.
Family members talked to the individual in the car from a loudspeaker. The man was unharmed when taken into police custody.
Nick Beres contributed to this reporting.
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My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston
