NEWS

Police: Suspect shot and killed by Metro police in Talbot's Corner

Natalie Neysa Alund, and Ariana Sawyer
The Tennessean

A suspected fugitive was shot and killed by Metro Police after pulling a pistol on an officer in Nashville Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The officer-involved shooting took place at about 2:30 p.m. in Talbot's Corner near Dickerson Pike and Donald Street.

No officers were injured, Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said.

According to information from Aaron and the Robertson County Sheriff's Office, the incident stemmed from a home invasion earlier in the day in Robertson County, where the suspect broke into a home on Hancock Road, tied up a senior citizen inside and then stole items including money, a pistol, a shotgun, a cellphone and a vehicle.

Robertson County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Ryan Martin identified the suspect as 43-year-old Springfield resident Sandy Joe Duke, who was wanted by the sheriff’s office on unrelated charges stemming out of Springfield.

Sandy Joe Duke.

Aaron said the Sheriff's Office was able to track the suspect to Nashville where Metro police, with the help of the stolen cell phone, tracked him to the Dickerson Pike area.

When police located the suspect and commanded him to stop, Aaron said, he fled to a gravel lot at a nearby recycling business.

Aaron said officers again commanded the suspect to stop, but he turned toward them with pistol in hand, so an officer, identified by police as Wesley McClelland, opened fire, striking him at least one time.

The suspect was taken to Skyline Medical Center and where he was pronounced dead, Aaron said.

Officer Wesley McClelland.

Robertson Sheriff: manhunt over for now

Police recovered the stolen vehicle driven by the suspect near the intersection where the shooting took place.

J.E. McMurty Disposal & Recycling business owner James McMurty said he was inside his business on Donald Street when he heard five to six shots ring out.

McMurty said he then walked outside and saw the suspect lying on the ground in a gravel lot on his property.

"The whole hill (of the lot) was just covered in blood and there was a man lying in the lot," McMurty said. "I knew it was too much blood for him to come through."

"Unfortunately it's the time we live in," he said.

Aaron said McClelland has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol in police-related shootings.

Police shut down one lane of Dickerson Pike and taped off a large area in front of and behind the nearby Danial Market. The market is across the street from a set of mobile homes and located about a half-dozen blocks north of Trinity Lane.

Motorists and residents were asked to avoid the area.

Duke has been convicted previously on a number of theft and assault charges.

Reach Ariana Sawyer at 615-259-8382 or on Twitter @a_maia_sawyer. Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at 615-259-8072 and on Twitter @nataliealund.