NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – Saturday morning, Metro Police Chief John Drake received questions from reporters after a deadly shooting involving one of his officers.
Nika Holbert died from her injuries Friday after Holbert and Officer Josh Baker exchanged gunfire in a Dollar General parking lot at Brick Church Pike.
“I checked the body camera footage; it looked like I was doing everything I could to try to reduce the situation, including using the taser, including trying not to use the firearm,” Chief Drake said.
On the morning of the shooting, Officer Baker removed a black Chevy Camaro after passing the plates through the system and seeing that the owner of the car, Demond Buchanan, had six drug orders pending. Baker quickly realized that the owner was not behind the wheel.
Instead, it was Nika Holbert. Body camera footage released by the MNPD showed Officer Baker found drugs in the car, made a radio to back them up and tried to take Holbert into custody. That’s when it all increased.
“Here do me a favor and turn around,” Baker said.
“No, don’t handcuff me. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Holbert replied as he ran away from the agent.
The video shows Baker warning Holbert that she was about to be stunned. When she retires to the car, he unfolds the taser. Then you can see how Holbert gets something with his right hand. Baker thinks it’s a gun. “Ma’am, put the gun on, put the gun on,” Baker shouted.
Holbert and the officer exchange shots. Metro police say Baker was shot once, Holbert was shot twice. He then tried to flee, only to drive the Camaro into a ditch. Holbert later died of his wounds.
“There’s nothing more I could have done better than maybe leave the scene and let it go, and obviously I couldn’t do it,” Chief John Drake assumed.
Drake says Baker couldn’t let her go, because he found her in drug possession and because she was driving without a Tennessee driver’s license.
Nika’s mother answers
Nika Holbert’s mother believes she should never have gotten to this point. She called NewsChannel 5 to want to share what she thinks is her daughter’s perspective on this story. He has asked us not to use his name for his safety.
“There are a thousand scenarios that could have happened where both of them could have moved away. My daughter should be alive today,” Holbert’s mother said.
Nika’s mother tells NewsChannel 5 that she doesn’t know the owner of the car her daughter was driving. “If he did, I would have already arrested him yesterday. I don’t know this guy,” he added.
He also said he wasn’t surprised that Nika pulled out a gun, saying she was obviously scared. “I was trying to kill her with this taser and she was trying to protect herself,” he said.
Holbert’s mother is now hiring a lawyer and is studying her legal options.
Officer Baker’s last state
Chief John Drake visited an injured officer Josh Baker Saturday morning in his hospital room at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “He was in a little pain yet, understandably. His stomach had been … he had had a procedure, so he was still a little groggy,” Drake said.
The 14-year veteran of the force could be released in the next few days.
The Tennessee Office of Investigation is still studying the case, but it will ultimately depend on the district attorney general, Glenn Funk, whether additional legal action will be taken.
Here is the full press conference with Nashville Metro Police Chief John Drake: