NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – Metro Police Chief John Drake asked reporters’ questions Saturday morning after a fatal shootout involving one of his officers.
Nika Holbert died Friday from her injuries after Holbert and officer Josh Baker exchanged gunfire in a Dollar General parking lot on Brick Church Pike.
“I checked the body footage. He seems to be doing everything in his power to aggravate the situation, including the use of tasers, including using his firearm,” Chief Drake said.
The morning of the shooting, Officer Baker pulled over a black Chevy Camaro after running the plates through their system and seeing that the owner of the car, Demond Buchanan, had six outstanding drug orders. Baker quickly realizes the owner is not sitting behind the wheel.
Instead, it was Nika Holbert. On the camera footage released by MNPD showed that Officer Baker found drugs in the car, which were used for backup and attempted to arrest Holbert. It was then that everything escalated.
“Do me a favor here and turn around,” Baker said.
‘No, do not put me in handcuffs. I did nothing wrong, ‘Holbert replied as she ran away from the officer.
The video shows Baker Holbert warning that she was about to watch. When she got back into the car, he put the taser in it. Then you can see Holbert reaching for something with her right hand. Baker believes it’s a gun. “Ma’am, put the gun down, put the gun down,” Baker shouted.
Holbert and the officer then exchange gunfire. Metro police say Baker was shot once, Holbert was shot twice. She then tried to get away to drive the Camaro into a ditch. Holbert later died from her injuries.
“There’s nothing he could have done better than leave the scene and let her go, and of course he could not have done that,” Chief John Drake suspects.
Drake says Baker could not let her go because he found she was in possession of drugs and because she was driving without a driver’s license from Tennessee.
Nika’s mother responds
Nika Holbert’s mother thinks it should never have come to this point. She called NewsChannel 5 and wanted to share what she believes is her daughter’s perspective on this story. She asked us not to use her name in the interest of her own safety.
“There could be a thousand scenarios where both could walk away. My daughter would have to live today,” Holbert’s mother said.
Nika’s mother tells NewsChannel 5, she does not know the owner of the car that drove her daughter. “If I had done that, I would have had him arrested yesterday. I do not know the guy, ‘she added.
She also said that she was not surprised that Nika stuck out a gun, and said that she was very scared. “He tried to kill her with the taser and she tried to protect herself,” she said.
Holbert’s mother is now hiring a lawyer and is considering her legal options.
Latest information about Baker Baker’s condition
Chief John Drake visited a wounded officer Josh Baker in his hospital room at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Saturday morning. “He was in a bit of pain, understandably. His stomach was already – he had a procedure done, so he was still a little rough, ‘says Drake.
The 14-year-old veteran of the force could be released in the coming days.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations is still investigating the case, but it will eventually be handed over to District Attorney General Glenn Funk if further legal action is taken.
Here’s the full news conference with Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake: