Man Walking On The Highway With A Box Cutter Gets Executed Via Police Firing Squad In Broad Daylight

A portion of Interstate 65 in Nashville was closed for several hours Thursday after nearly a dozen local and state law enforcement fatally shot a 37-year-old man as he stood in the middle of the freeway.

The Metro Nashville Police Department reported MNPD officers, Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers and an off-duty Mt Juliet officer fatally shot the man near Harding Place about 10 miles south of downtown.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the agency leading the investigation into the shooting, identified the man as Landon Eastep.

No one else was injured in the shooting, the TBI reported.

The incident began just before 2 p.m., THP Sgt. John Grinder said, when a trooper came into contact with the man, who had what appeared to be a box cutter, on the interstate.

According to the TBI and Nashville police, the trooper saw a man sitting on a guardrail near mile marker 76 and went to check on him. At some point, he said, the man pulled out a box cutter.

The trooper attempted to negotiate with Eastep, and soon, the THP reported, an off-duty Mount Juliet Police Department officer also stopped, along with back-up officers from MNPD and additional THP troopers.

"The negotiations with Eastep, aimed at convincing him to surrender, continued for approximately 30 minutes," the TBI reported. "At one point, the man appears to adjust his stance and reach for what was later identified as a metal cylindrical object at his waist."

At least nine of the law enforcement officers fired upon Eastep, according to the TBI.

He died at the scene.