Sandy MaloneNashville, TN – A Friday morning shootout after a traffic stop left a Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officer seriously wounded and the woman who shot him dead.
MNPD Spokesman Don Aaron told reporters that the incident began at about 9:30 a.m. on March 12 when MNPD Officer Josh Baker stopped a vehicle, the Tennessean reported.
The vehicle’s owner was wanted on six outstanding warrants, but it was being driven by someone else, 31-year-old Nika Holbert.
Holbert stopped the car in front of the Dollar General store on Brick Church Pike near Ewing Drive, the Tennessean reported.
Aaron said the traffic stop “devolved” into a gunfight when Holbert opened fire on Officer Baker and shot him in his torso, FOX News reported.
“Officer Baker approached the vehicle, learned that the owner of the car – the person with the outstanding warrants – was not the person driving and the situation devolved from there into a shootout,” Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.
Officer Baker returned fire and struck Holbert, the Tennessean reported.
She tried to flee the scene after she was shot but crashed her car into a ditch at the intersection of Brick Church Pike and Moorehead Drive as she tried to drive away.
Medics rendered aid to Holbert and she was transported to Skyline Medical Center where she died.
Officer Baker was transported to the trauma center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition and was taken straight into surgery, the Tennessean reported.
He was in stable condition at the hospital by Friday afternoon.
Aaron said investigators recovered a pistol in the Dollar General parking lot that they believe belonged to Holbert, the Tennessean reported.
Officer Baker, a 14-year veteran of the police force, was wearing a bodycam when was shot.
The wounded officer is a MNPD legacy whose father was commander of the East Precinct, the Tennessean reported.
“What happened today is a reminder that being a police officer anywhere can be a dangerous job,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper said on Friday afternoon. “My thoughts and prayers are with Officer Baker and with the families of everyone involved.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will head up the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, according to the Tennessean.
Metro Nashville Community Oversight, the city’s recently-created citizen police review panel, will investigate to determine if Office Baker violated any police department policies when he shot Holbert.
March 12, 2021 — Community Oversight Board responds to police officer involved shooting pic.twitter.com/xUFoUOduyH
— Metro Nashville Community Oversight (@MNCONashville) March 12, 2021
Concerned friends and police supporters posted messages of support to social media.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Baker and everyone at @MNPDNashville https://t.co/9GcebwrEMZ
— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) March 12, 2021
Our prayers are with Officer Josh Baker of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department who was shot in the line of duty this morning.
— Robertson TN Sheriff (@RobertsonTNSO) March 12, 2021
“I know the Nashville community has Officer Baker in their thoughts and prayers as they do the other person involved here,” Aaron told reporters.
Holly Matkin
