NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An officer for the Metro Nashville Police Department has been decommissioned for using what officials called, “inappropriate language,” with a driver in South Nashville.
Metro Police officials said Officer Brian Birch was decommissioned following the incident Sunday evening, which was also recorded on cellphone video by another driver.
In the recording, Birch was reportedly heard threatening to shoot the driver in the face if he didn't get out of the car.
Leading up to the incident, police had received multiple tips about a man walking around the Casa Fiesta restaurant on Bell Road with what callers said looked like an AK-47.
Officers responded and stopped a driver who matched that description under the Interstate 24 Bridge.
While ordering the man out of the car, Birch was heard saying, “Open the [expletive] door now. I am going to shoot you in the [expletive] face. Open it now.”
The driver, identified as Walter Fisher, did have a shot gun and hand gun but officials said they were licensed weapons. No charges were filed against Fisher.
Police said an investigation revealed that Fisher had been eating inside the restaurant when he saw two people burglarizing his car. He apparently went outside, wearing the pistol in his waistband, to confront the burglars.
Both suspects fled the scene. Fisher did not report the auto burglary to police.
In addition to being decommissioned, Birch has also been temporarily assigned to desk duty while the department investigates. He graduated from the MNPD Academy in March 2014.
