BlueLivesMatterBY COWGIRL
Nashville, TN – After two violent confrontations, Metro Nashville Police Officer Josh Lippert shot armed suspect Jocques Clemmons in the back on Friday.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, the incident occurred about 1:00 PM. East Precinct Flex Officer Josh Lippert was driving an unmarked patrol car when he saw Jocques Clemmons, age 31, driving a vehicle that ran a stop sign. Clemmons then stopped, parked his SUV, and got out of the car. Officer Lippert, who was in full uniform, then drove up to Clemmons to talk with him about running the stop sign.
When Officer Josh Lippert approached, Jocques Clemmons abruptly charged Officer Lippert and made full contact with him.
Clemmons then fled and the video shows him running through a parking lot and clutching at something in his waistband.
Officer Josh Lippert pursued Jocques Clemmons and attempted to arrest him. A second violent confrontation occurred. Clemmons went to the ground and his gun, a fully loaded .357 magnum, also fell to the ground.
Officer Josh Lippert saw the gun and attempted to kick the gun away from Jocques Clemmons. The officer then kicked Clemmons’s arm to prevent him from getting the gun back. Despite this, Clemmons grabbed the gun and refused repeated commands from Officer Lippert to drop the weapon.
In the police report, it noted that Officer Josh Lippert and Jocques Clemmons were a few feet away from each other, and that Officer Lippert believed that his life was in imminent danger as Clemmons moved with the gun in his hand. He fired three times at Clemmons when Clemmons turned to move between parked vehicles. Clemmons was struck twice in the lower left back.
Officer Josh Lippert and other officers administered first aid to Clemmons until EMS arrived on the scene. He picked up Clemmons’ gun and placed it in his vehicle to secure the weapon. It was later photographed there by the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Jocques Clemmons was transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he underwent surgery and died.
After the shooting, protesters with signs began to gather, claiming that the shooting was unnecessary.
Clemmons’s criminal history shows a prior felony conviction for Possession of Cocaine from 2014 and was in his second year of an eight-year probation sentence. According to state and federal law, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is a felony and a probation violation in this instance would also be a felony.
The Metro Nashville Police Department said that it does not know why Jocques Clemmons acted in the manner that he did, but stated that it might have had something to do with his being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying it in public housing.
Officer Josh Lippert is a five-year veteran of MN PD. He was not injured in the incident.
Metro Nashville Police East Precinct Flex Officers had recently increased patrol in the Cayce Homes public housing community after an increase in Aggravated Assaults in the area. As of February 7, there have been 36 reported aggravated assaults of that nature this year, compared with 10 at this time last year.
Our thoughts and prayers are with him and the Metro Nashville Police Department at this time. Thank you for your courage, bravery, and service to the citizens of Nashville.