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The fatal shooting of a Grammy award winner earlier this year by a Nashville police officer was “reasonably necessary” as police attempted to serve warrants for assault and kidnapping, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said he will not pursue charges against Metro Nashville Police Officer Kendall Coon for fatally shooting sound engineer Mark Capps on Jan. 5.
Funk also asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to close its review of the shooting in a letter obtained by The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
MORE:Mark Capps’ family shares memories while acknowledging Grammy winner’s troubled past
Coon was one of three Nashville SWAT officers executing a covert operation at Capps’ home that day. The officers were attempting to serve aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping warrants to Capps hours after police say he held his wife and adult stepdaughter at gunpoint.
When Capps, 54, came to the front door, he was holding a pistol, and police deemed Capps’ movements an immediate threat, police said at the time. Coon fatally shot the man.
A 30-second clip of body-camera footage released by MNPD did not show all of Capps’ movements and was partially obstructed by Coon’s weapon. The clip appeared to show Capps opening the door, and Coon can be heard ordering him to show his hands before firing seconds later.
Police said that hours before the shooting, Capps woke his wife, 60, and stepdaughter, 23, while holding a gun, according to their accounts. The women told police they escaped after Capps fell asleep.
“He threatened them, said if they called anyone he’d kill them,” Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron said at the time of the shooting.
Some police experts questioned why Coon, a 14-year-veteran of the department, fatally shot Capps within seconds of arriving on the man’s front porch.
Criminal justice consultant George Kirkham said Capps was not presenting a threat of an active shooter situation and said he was the type of person police should have spoken to from a distance before pursing fatal measures.
The city’s mobile crisis team and Partners in Care program, both of which send mental health workers to help police engage people experiencing mental health crises, were not involved.
Jill Fitcheard, who leads the Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board, said her main questions revolve around the tactics MNPD used and policies governing SWAT officers.
Marc Evans, a longtime police lieutenant in California, also questioned why officers approached the front door instead of first engaging Capps by using a loudspeaker outside the residence, allowing him an opportunity to surrender.
Capps was a four-time Grammy winner for his work on polka music, according to the Grammy Awards. His work won him the awards for best polka album each ear from 2006-09. Capps was the son of Jimmy Capps, a beloved Opry guitarist and Musicians Hall of Fame member who died in 2020.
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