MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man was shot and killed by a police officer in Mt. Juliet late Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
An officer pulled over a car that was driving on S. Mt. Juliet Road around 11 p.m. The TBI said the officer spoke with the woman driving the car, then swapped with a second officer to speak with the man in the passenger seat. The man, identified as 39-year-old Eric Jermain Allen, was asked to exit the vehicle. Instead, the TBI said, Allen moved into the driver's seat and drove away. The officer leaned into the car in an attempt to stop him.
"After repeated requests to stop the car, warnings, and a taser deployment on the individual, the individual continued to drive away with the officer trapped in the car," Mt. Juliet police said.
The officer then shot Allen, who later died, and the car came to a stop.
Per protocol, agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were called to the scene and will be independently investigating the shooting.
S. Mt. Juliet Road was blocked at Central Pike until early Thursday morning.
This is the 39th law enforcement shooting that the TBI has been requested to investigate this year.
