NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Police have identified a man who is wanted for questioning after shots were fired at a Metro officer Tuesday morning.
Police released body camera video Tuesday afternoon, saying the video showed Sgt. Michael Willis as he tried to speak to an assault suspect at Delta Avenue and Cheatham Place.
According to police, Willis did not fire back.
Police said 61-year-old Michelle P. Hill is wanted for questioning.
BREAKING: Michelle P. Hill, 61, is wanted for questioning in regard to the shots fired at Sgt. Willis. The man who fired those shots had run from a Chevy Impala registered to Hill. pic.twitter.com/VoBQWd1W9S
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) May 25, 2021
Investigators said the man who fired shots drove away from a Chevrolet Impala registered to Hill.
Police were originally called to the area when 911 received a call that a topless woman ran up to the caller's car on Interstate 24 W. at the Jefferson Street exit. The woman reportedly got out of the Impala and said a man was trying to kill her. The caller then followed the Impala as the driver went around Nissan Stadium to First Avenue and then Jefferson Street. The caller reported seeing the Impala pull into a grocery store parking lot on Monroe Street before the driver got out and ran away.
Shortly after, Sgt. Willis spotted a man matching the description of the driver of the Impala near Delta Avenue and Chatham Place. As Willis attempted to speak to the man, police said the man fired two shots at him, which can be heard in the body camera video.
Officers were able to speak with the woman, who said a man broke the window of her car while she was parked at a market on Fesslers Lane just before 4 a.m. She reported that the man tried to drag her out of the vehicle, so she left her car and got into the Impala. The woman said the driver of the Impala threatened to kill her and she got out of the car as it slowed down on the exit ramp. The woman said the driver of the Impala grabbed her shirt, causing it to rip off.
She reported to police she did not know who the man was, but officers say earlier police reports say she and Hill are acquaintances.
In a previous shooting, the Community Oversight Board said they did not get a chance to review body camera video before its release to the public: something the board said had been agreed upon.
But Clemmie Greenlee, with the non-profit Nashville Peacemakers, says more than that, she thinks Community Oversight members should be there the first time Metro Police looks at body cam video from a shooting.
"We need the oversight board in the community, leaders who are out there to be in that room the moment they push that first button that says play and record so we can see what it is that you’re editing," Greenlee said.
Metro police have said they back the use of body cams because of the transparency and truth that they can reveal.
Anyone who has information on Hill's whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.
