The Nashville, Tennessee, police officer at the center of a controversial shooting of an armed black man was reprimanded by the department for using a taser instead of a gun against a previous armed suspect.
Officer Andrew Delke, a 25-year-old white police officer, shot and killed an armed black man, Daniel Hambrick, in 2018. Hambrick was armed during the incident but had started to run away from the scene when Delke shot him. The shooting enraged many, who felt the officer acted out of racial animus and used unnecessary force against Hambrick.
Delke pleaded not guilty after he was indicted on one count of premeditated first-degree murder for shooting Hambrick as he fled the scene. His attorneys argue that he acted in self-defense. New documents obtained by WPLN show that Delke may have been trained to respond with lethal force.
In 2017, Delke, who had been on the force for around one year, faced a similar situation in which he was called to address a report that a black man armed with a .45-caliber gun was harassing another man outside his home in north Nashville. Delke arrived at the scene and ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect started to run, but the officer managed to arrest him after using his taser to stop him.
After the arrest, Delke was reprimanded for using a taser to stop the armed man. He met with a supervising officer, Sgt. Matthew Boguskie, who called him in for an “informal counseling session” and told him he would have been “justified” in using his gun instead. Delke said he didn’t want to use his gun because of “the hostile climate towards police use of force throughout the country.” He also referenced the case of Officer Joshua Lippert, who had been at the center of a controversial shooting involving an officer.
In a report about the meeting, Boguskie wrote, “I discussed with Officer Delke that we cannot allow outside factors to detract us from our training and what we know we should do in dangerous situations, particularly situations that could quickly rise to a deadly force situation.”
The precinct’s commander, Terrence Graves, agreed, writing later in a memo, “I am glad everything worked out without anyone being injured. I am also thankful and proud of Off. Delke’s honest response when asked about the situation. Based on this case, we may need to add an element of training that addresses not letting the possibility of media attention override our training and policy.”
Since being charged with murder, Delke attorneys have fought to have the case moved out of Nashville because the lawyers believe the jury pool has been tainted with intense media coverage. Judges denied the request, leaving Delke to stand trial in the city. His trial will begin on March 16.
Officer-involved shootings have gained more scrutiny since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked nationwide protests against abuse of force from police officers, especially against black men.
