NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A man was critically injured after being shot during a traffic stop by a Metro Police officer on Thursday night.
It happened just before 9 p.m. on Willow Creek Court, off Westchester Drive.
Police said that Officer Willie Reaves, of the Madison Precinct, pulled over a white Chevy Impala because it was driving without its lights on. Two people were inside the car at the time of the traffic stop, a female driver and a male passenger.
Officials said when the officer approached the car the male passenger appeared to reach for something and did not obey the officer's commands to show his hands.
Investigators said the officer had no choice but to shoot because he did not comply.
"The male passenger did not comply. Officer Reaves was under the belief he may be reaching for something - a weapon. Officer Reaves fired one time," said Don Aaron, Metro Police spokesperson.
According to police, he got into the driver's seat and fled the scene. He showed up about an hour later at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage with a gunshot wound to the face. He was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
At first, he told police that he had been hit by a bullet that "came out of nowhere" on Brick Church Pike.
After further questioning, investigators said had determined that Sales was indeed the man shot by Officer Reaves.
Metro Police Spokesman Don Aaron said the investigation shows that male left the initial scene with a gunshot wound to his face, and drove several miles to the home of a friend who lives on Sioux Terrace in Madison.
There, police say he changed his clothes, ditched the white Chevy Impala he'd been driving, and got a female friend to drive him to Summit Medical Center in another vehicle.
Investigators later located the white Impala at the home on Sioux Terrace.
According to police, the female passenger told them there was marijuana in the car.
The female driver was apparently hit in the knee. She was treated near the scene.
Police had identified the man who was shot as 31-year-old Travis Sales, but said they believe the man gave them a false identity. The real Travis Sales went to police after seeing his picture.
The
department said the man has now
been identified through fingerprints as Russell McCarley, a convicted
felon. Police said they searched an apartment where McCarley changed clothes and found a loaded 9 mm pistol in a jacket pocket.
Officer Reaves was not injured in the incident, but has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard procedure during officer-involved shootings.
