An out-of-state man in his 40s was shot and killed inside a Nashville federal courthouse after his pistol jammed and he allegedly lunged at an officer with a knife.
The confrontation unfolded around 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the lobby checkpoint of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building & Courthouse, according to Nashville Metropolitan Police.
Police said the unidentified man tried to pass through security while armed. He allegedly attempted to fire a pistol. The gun jammed. He then allegedly pulled a knife and tried to attack an officer, who opened fire.
ABC News reported the account from a news conference led by Nashville Metropolitan Police Public Affairs Director Don Aaron.
The suspect was taken to a hospital critically wounded and later pronounced dead. No motive has been announced. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will handle the case.
Aaron described a fast, violent sequence at the security line. The man arrived armed. He tried to shoot. The weapon failed. He switched to a knife and moved on an officer.
That officer fired. The man went down. Investigators later searched a car he left near the scene. A nearby library was evacuated while police locked down the area.
Police identified the suspect only as a male in his 40s from out of state. His name was not released. Officials did not say how many shots were fired or whether any officers or bystanders were hurt.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire addressed the breach in plain terms.
"Obviously, someone who is armed and brings a firearm into a federal courthouse is not acceptable, and we're going to have to get to the bottom of what happened and then act accordingly,"
McGuire said.
Federal courthouses exist to administer the law under controlled conditions. Weapons at a security checkpoint are not a paperwork problem. They are a direct threat to judges, staff, jurors, and the public who walk through those doors every day.
In this case, the checkpoint did its job. The gun did not fire. The officer did. A man who allegedly tried to shoot his way in, then stab his way through, is dead. Everyone else went home.
Motive remains under investigation. That is the next question for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The first question, whether an armed attacker would be stopped, was answered in the lobby.
Courthouse security is not theater. When a gun jams and a knife comes out, the people paid to hold the line have seconds to decide. In Nashville, they did.
