NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A security officer fatally shot an armed man Thursday just inside the busy entrance of a federal courthouse in Tennessee’s largest city, authorities said.
The man, who was in his 40s, tried to fire a pistol but it failed. He then pulled out a knife at around 9:30 a.m., said Don Aaron, spokesperson for Metro Nashville Police.
“The security individual fired on the armed individual,” Aaron said, adding that paramedics took the man to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man was from out of state. Investigators didn’t immediately know why he was at the courthouse, and a search of his car turned up “nothing threatening,” Aaron said.
All federal courts require visitors to go through a security checkpoint. Armed former police officers contracted by the U.S. Marshals Service typically staff the entrances.
“That’s the entrance that most people in this courthouse use,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire told reporters outside.
The shooting closed the library next door. Officers with dogs circled the perimeter while workers in nearby buildings gathered to watch.
McGuire noted that the local U.S. Attorney’s Office is inside the courthouse, as are the offices of Tennessee’s U.S. senators.
There have been “security instances where a person acts up or acts inappropriately and has to be removed from the premises, but nothing even approaching this kind of situation,” he said.
Reports of the shooting immediately stirred anxiety and concern.
“People are calling their families to let them know they’re OK,” McGuire said. “I called my wife, called my son, called people that I knew were wanting to know if I was OK. We’re all doing that.”
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