

Officer John Downs

Metro police shot and killed a robbery suspect Sunday night in Nashboro Village after police say the armed teenager opened fire, shooting one officer in the leg.

Police have identified the gunman as 16 year-old Xavier McDonald. Officer John Downs, the 18-year department veteran who was shot in the upper leg, is in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Here is what happened, according to a release from Metro Police:

Hermitage Precinct officers had come to 825 Long Hunter Court in furtherance of a robbery investigation. A citizen reported that he was robbed while in his parked car earlier in the afternoon. Officers were checking on information that the persons responsible were at 825 Long Hunter Court. After receiving consent to enter the condo, officers observed the robbery victim’s debit card inside. McDonald emerged from a room inside the condo and locked himself inside a bathroom. Negotiators and Special Response Team officers were then called. After emerging from the bathroom and coming to the front entrance of the condo, officers to the right of the porch attempted to use a Taser to take McDonald into custody. The effort was unsuccessful, after which officers saw McDonald draw a pistol and open fire. Downs was hit. At the time of Sunday night’s incident, McDonald was listed as a runaway by the police department. His mother reported scuffling with him over a box of bullets on the night of December 7th. She said he threatened to shoot her. She also reported that he was carrying a gun in his waistband on the 7th, but did not draw it.

Police also say that Lieutenant Ken Spencer, Sergeant Robert Nielsen, Sergeant Brian Gottschall and Officer Brandon Vance, who fired their weapons Sunday night, are "on routine administrative assignment while the investigation continues".