NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro police said a man was killed after shooting toward officers in Madison early Thursday morning. He has been identified as 39-year-old Anthony Phillips.
Police said Phillips was wanted for tampering with his ankle monitor, adding he was a convicted sex offender. Don Aaron with the Metro Nashville Police Department said police believe the ankle monitor was related to the man's sex offender conviction.
Police said two residents reported an abandoned Impala sitting in the traffic lane on W. Old Hickory Boulevard, between Interstate 65 and Dickerson Pike around 2:30 a.m. Witnesses reported the car had its doors open and they could hear the sounds of gunfire from the woods nearby.
When officers arrived, they too heard the sounds of gunfire. Police said it was "readily apparent" the shots were being directed toward the officers.
Metro police said they repeatedly ordered Phillips to come out of the woods and surrender for about 40 minutes, however, they said he continued to fire toward the officers. As seen in body camera video worn by officers, shots can be heard fired at officers while they are investigating the car.
One Metro officer returned the gunfire, killing Phillips.
"The man did emerge from the wood line into a clearing and he was engaging with the officers that were telling him to come out and surrender. He actually went prone, down on his body on the ground at one point, but with the gun still right there with him. One officer said it appeared as if perhaps he was ingesting some type of controlled substance as this continued to evolve," said Don Aaron with the Metro Nashville Police Department. "He then became prone again, and once he became prone, with the officers right there, fired two more shots and almost immediately at that point, Officer Ricardo Cruz fired, we believe at this moment, one shotgun round toward the suspect, which hit him, fatally wounding him."
Officer Cruz has been with MNPD for two years.
On Thursday afternoon, MNPD released body camera footage of the officers' response.
Officers — as shown at the beginning of the body camera footage — threatened to release a K-9 unit if the man did not comply or that they would shoot. Throughout the body camera footage, the officers also told Phillips to come out with his hands up and he wouldn't be harmed.
Beware of graphic content: Below is the video from the officer's worn body camera.
"Come out with your hands up. We don't want to hurt you," one officer said in the footage. "Sir, we don't want to shoot you. Please come out with your hands up. You will not be harmed if you come out peacefully."
Beware of graphic content: Below is the video from the officer's worn body camera.
In a later released statement from the department, MNPD's Brooke Reese said Phillips was being investigated for a shooting incident on Trousdale Drive on Wednesday morning. A warrant for his arrest was issued Wednesday for tampering with his ankle device.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been called into to independently investigate.
There were at least a dozen police cruisers holding the scene early Thursday, shutting down both directions of traffic on Old Hickory Boulevard.
