WARNING: The body cam video in this story may be disturbing to watch. Discretion is advised.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A four-year veteran of the Metro Nashville Police Department was injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon near Nashville International Airport and is expected to be OK. The suspect is dead.
Police released body camera video belonging to Officer Donovan Coble Thursday night. Watch it below or click here.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, MNPD spokesman Don Aaron said Metro officers were called around 2:30 p.m. to an airport parking facility called The Parking Spot on Donelson Pike in response to an armed man breaking into cars.
Coble, 33, is a detective with the department’s Community Field Intelligence Unit at the Hermitage Precinct. Police say Coble saw the gunman in a rear parking lot and ordered the suspect to stop. That’s when the suspect “ran and jumped the fence.”
Authorities say Detective Coble chased the suspect and was attacked. Police say Coble was shot in the side and taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition. The department confirmed Friday afternoon Det. Coble is no longer critical and listed as stable.
Other responding officers later encountered the suspect in an area of brush piles on Upshaw Drive. The suspect reportedly fired at SWAT officers. A SWAT member returned fire.
The 37-year-old suspect was also taken to Vanderbilt where he died. The police have identified him as Delama Casimir. He had a Florida driver’s license with a Pompano Beach address.
Investigators have recovered Casimir’s semi-automatic handgun from the scene.
“It’s still very much an open investigation,” Metro Police Chief John Drake said. “We found a weapon near the scene, but we’re actively looking for more shell casings or anything else.”
Police say they will continue to process the scene throughout the afternoon.
Chief Drake told reporters that Coble’s lung had to be re-inflated. Coble’s wife and mother are already with him at Vanderbilt.
“We take care of our people, so anyone [Coble’s] family entering the airport, we will take them to the hospital and him.”
Coble and his wife are the parents of one-year-old twins. The detective was just honored Tuesday night as Officer of the Year by the Donelson – Hermitage Exchange Club.
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