Prosecutors on Thursday filed a criminal homicide charge against a white police officer who shot and killed a black man, securing approval from a judge after a setback earlier in the day.

It was a seismic move that is likely to electrify an already intense debate over race and policing.

District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office alleged that Nashville Officer Andrew Delke, 25, broke the law on July 26 when he shot Daniel Hambrick, who was running away during a foot chase. Hambrick, also 25, was hit three times: twice in the back and once in the back of the head.

General Sessions Judge Michael Mondelli signed off on the charge just before noon, reversing a move earlier Thursday from a magistrate who said there was not enough evidence to support a case.

The homicide charge is a remarkable rebuke of a police officer in the line of duty, and it could put the entire Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on the defensive. No Nashville police officer in recent memory has been charged after shooting someone while they were on duty.

Funk sat silently at the prosecutor's table in Mondelli's courtroom as the judge considered the charge and signed off on an arrest warrant.

Delke surrendered to be booked into jail, quickly paid his $25,000 bond and was released by Thursday afternoon.

Nashville mayor issues statement on Delke being charged

Mayor David Briley voiced support for the charge.

"In August, I spoke with Daniel Hambrick’s mother to express my condolences for her loss. I assured her that we would show respect for the life of her son, because his life mattered," Briley said. "At that time, Ms. Hambrick asked for justice for Daniel. The District Attorney’s decision to file charges in this case is a necessary step toward that end."

"I fully support our police," Briley said. "However, officers will be required to account for their actions when they have been accused of misconduct. Put simply, we must have laws that are fairly, equally and transparently applied."

The Fraternal Order of Police signaled it was ready for a tenacious legal battle.

Delke's defenders said Delke was right to defend himself because he saw Hambrick holding a handgun during the chase. Delke's defense attorney David Raybin said his client would plead not guilty.

Prosecutors did not challenge the fact that Hambrick was armed, but they rejected the self defense argument, noting in the warrant that the officer stopped running during the chase, aimed at Hambrick as he was running away and opened fire.

Prosecutors made the unusual decision to file the homicide charge in General Sessions court, meaning new details about the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s shooting probe will become public as it moves through the criminal justice system.

High-stakes cases like this one typically skip straight to the Davidson County grand jury, which announces or rejects charges after considering evidence in secret.

Funk said in a statement that he opted for a charge in General Sessions court to present the case "in as transparent a manner as possible, because Grand Jury proceedings are secret and not open to the public."

DA's office faced earlier setback in charges against Nashville cop

For a brief period Thursday morning, the charge against Delke appeared to be on unsure footing.

Night Court Magistrate Evan Harris, who was the first person to vet evidence in the potential criminal case, said prosecutors did not have enough proof to move forward with a homicide charge.

"Based upon their statements and the affidavit I was not going to issue this warrant," Harris said afterward.

Within 80 minutes, Funk and top members of his team had secured a reversal in Mondelli's courtroom.

Delke charge comes amid call for police oversight

Mondelli's reversal, coupled with an anticipated surge of new information from court documents, is a boon to community activists who had marched through North Nashville streets protesting Hambrick’s death and calling for more oversight for the police department. Activists have pushed for a civilian board that would have the power to investigate allegations of police misconduct — a matter that is set for the Nov. 6 ballot.

Activists from grassroots groups like Black Lives Matter and Community Oversight Now reiterated their calls for an oversight board Thursday.

"While the news is encouraging in regards to this decision, Community Oversight Now reinstates its insistence there be independent oversight of policing in Nashville," Community Oversight Now said in a statement. "There has long been a call for more

transparency in the investigations, training and misconduct of Nashville police officers."

Reached by phone, Vickie Hambrick, Daniel Hambrick's mother, declined to comment, referring a reporter to her attorney Joy Kimbrough. Kimbrough has not yet responded.

NAACP officials struck a note of optimism during a news conference responding to the Delke charge.

"Let us say that we are excited that at last Lady Justice is truly blind, and at last a person that has committed a crime that wears blue has been" charged, said Gloria Sweet-Love, NAACP chapter president in Nashville.

Protests have rippled through Nashville and the nation in recent years as more scrutiny has fallen on police shootings that kill black men and boys.

In 2017, the protests in Nashville became more potent after a white police officer shot and killed Jocques Clemmons, who was black, during a foot chase in James A. Cayce Homes.

Funk declined to press charges in that case because a witness said Clemmons picked up a gun during a struggle with the officer.

But the district attorney criticized the police department for using paperwork and protocols that he said created the appearance of racial bias. The police bristled, saying Funk and his team had unfairly mischaracterized their work — Chief Steve Anderson dismissed Funk’s criticism as “political posturing.”

Funk’s decision in the Delke case is likely to widen the rift between the city’s top law enforcement agencies.

Police Chief Steve Anderson announced Delke had been decomissioned, and that an internal investigation into Delke's conduct remains open.

"I have long had great respect for, and confidence in, the justice system in Davidson County and the State of Tennessee. That respect and confidence remains," Anderson said. "It has been my experience that as the justice process proceeds, all of the facts and circumstances concerning an investigation will become known."

The ACLU of Tennessee cheered Funk's move to charge Delke in a statement.

“The arrest of Officer Delke for the killing of Daniel Hambrick is a crucial first step in setting the wheels of accountability and justice in motion," the statement read. "Officer Delke must receive due process during the proceedings. However, the arrest in and of itself sends an important – yet all too rare – message to the community that nobody is above the law.”

Details draw attention to traffic stop, Delke's lack of information

Delke's arrest warrant gives new details from the TBI investigation about the lead-up to the shooting.

Investigators had not previously described what led Delke to attempt a traffic stop that preceded the shooting, saying only that the car was “traveling in an erratic pattern.”

Delke was driving an unmarked patrol car in North Nashville on the evening of July 26 looking for stolen cars. That evening, the warrant said, he pulled up to a stop sign at 10th Avenue North and Ponder Place.

Soon afterward, a white Chevrolet Impala pulled up to a nearby stop sign across the street at 10th Avenue North and Kellow Street. The Impala ceded the right of way and waited for the officer the officer to turn onto 10th Avenue North, which made Delke "suspicious," according to the warrant.

After waiting for a while, the Impala turned on to 10th Avenue North. Delke followed.

Delke ran the Impala’s plates and confirmed it was not stolen, the warrant said, but he continued following "to see if he could develop a reason to stop the Impala."

"After some time, Officer Delke turned on his blue lights as the Impala pulled onto I-65 South at Rosa L. Parks Blvd.," the warrant said.

The Impala did not pull over, and Delke did not chase behind it.

Delke continued looking in the area for the Impala when he pulled into a parking lot at John Henry Hale Apartments. Hambrick and other men were standing in the parking lot near another, unrelated white sedan. Delke believed the sedan was the Impala he was looking for.

Hambrick ran, and Delke chased after him.

TBI has previously reported that there is video showing Hambrick parking the white Impala in another part of the parking lot before Delke arrived, but the warrant said the officer had no way of knowing if Hambrick was connected to the Impala or the other white sedan.

"Officer Delke did not know the identity of the man he was chasing," the warrant said. "He did not know with certainty if the man was connected to the misidentified white sedan, if he was connected to the target Impala or if he was connected to either vehicle."

As Delke chased Hambrick along Jo Johnston Avenue, the warrant said, Delke "saw a gun in Mr. Hambrick's hand."

Delke gave several verbal commands, including, "Drop the gun or I'll shoot."

"When Mr. Hambrick continued to run away and did not drop the gun, Officer Delke decided to use deadly force," the warrant said. "Officer Delke stopped, assumed a firing position, and aimed his service weapon."

He fired four shots, hitting Hambrick three times.

Delke is scheduled to face the homicide charge in court for the first time on Oct. 30.

More:NOAH coalition calls for Nashville police chief's termination after fatal Hambrick shooting

More:Black Lives Matter, other activists, march in streets over Daniel Hambrick shooting

Natalie Neysa Alund contributed to this report.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.