Video: Nashville police fatally shoot man with knife; second police shooting in 24 hours

Metro Nashville Police officers shot and killed a man who charged at them with a knife Saturday evening. The fatal shooting was the second of the day by MNPD officers.

Early Sunday morning, MNPD released body camera footage of officers confronting and eventually shooting a man on River Road Pike in Nashville shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation later identified the man as Drandon John Brown, 64. The two officers at the scene, Ryan Thomas and Cameron Vendermerwe, were responding to 911 calls reporting a man swinging tree branches at passing cars. Both Thomas and Vendermerwe joined the department in 2021, according to MNPD spokesperson Brooke Reese.

Early Saturday morning, police shot and killed Senquarius Demonta Williams, 26, in Madison after he walked toward a taped-off crime scene where police were standing and began shooting at officers. MNPD released body cam footage of that shooting Saturday morning. Both shootings are under investigation by both the MNPD and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. 

Nashville police shooting:Video shows man firing gun before Nashville police officers fatally shoot him

Watch: MNPD releases bodycam footage of second fatal shooting by police Saturday

Editor's note: This video contains graphic content and may not be suitable for sensitive viewers.

Body camera footage of the later shooting on River Road Pike shows that roughly a minute passed between the time when officers made contact with Brown and when they fatally shot him.

The footage shows officers approaching a man with a bushy white beard on the side of a narrow and heavily wooded section of River Road Pike. Officers asked Brown what he was doing, and he told them he had "a right to walk this street" and that he hadn't had "a drop" of alcohol.

After the officers asked him again what he is doing, Brown became agitated. Much of what he said to police is difficult to understand, but he eventually started walking away from them down the road, declaring he was "walking with God."

One of the officers then asked Brown if he could talk to him. Brown said "no," telling the officers they have nothing to say to him. As Brown talked, Thomas can be heard asking Vendermerwe, "You ready?"

In response, Brown turned to face both officers, declaring “I’ll take both of you.” He then pulled what appeared to be a knife out of his jacket, prompting both officers to yell “put it down!” Brown then started walking away from the officers before Vendermerwe deployed his taser. The taser did not appear to work, and Brown charged Vendermerwe with the knife in his hand. Three shots can then be heard as the officers shot Brown.

They rendered aid, but Brown died at the scene, police said.