Community board weighs in after officer shoots Grammy winner

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Metro’s Community Oversight Board is weighing in following last week’s officer-involved shooting that took the life of a well-known sound engineer in Nashville.

When it comes to officer-involved shootings, the board’s executive director said she is always a proponent of one thing. “De-escalation, de-escalation, de-escalation,” executive director Jill Fitcheard said.

Some are questioning whether the situation involving 54-year-old Mark Capps could have been de-escalated last week before it turned deadly.

“We are doing administrative investigations,” Fitcheard said. “We are looking at policy violations.”

Metro Police said Capps, a Grammy-winning sound engineer, had kidnapped his wife and stepdaughter at gunpoint. When the SWAT team arrived at the home Thursday, police said Capps came to the door with a gun, ignored two commands from police to drop his weapon and then was shot and killed by an officer within seconds.

“In an officer-involved shooting, when it comes to how an officer felt, it can be done in split seconds,” Fitcheard said.

Some of Capps’ friends told WSMV 4 Sunday that he was under a lot of mental stress and needed help.

“The next time an incident like this happens, I hope there are better ways to resolve it without the death of someone,” Fitcheard said.

Metro Police said they have no record of Capps’ mental history and that they do not send clinicians to scenes where the suspect is known to be armed. Fitcheard said the board’s biggest challenge in investigating these cases is their relationship with the police department itself and getting access to the needed records.

“At this point, it may take a couple weeks to get basic stuff,” Fitcheard said.

Fitcheard said they are waiting to receive all the body camera footage from Thursday’s shooting. The TBI is also investigating. The officer involved is on administrative assignment.

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