A Cheatham County sheriff's deputy opened fire on a fleeing vehicle Wednesday afternoon after a traffic stop near the Davidson County line spiraled into a chase along Highway 70. No one inside the car was hurt, and the vehicle was ultimately disabled, but the shooting has reignited questions about when officers are legally allowed to fire at a moving car.
The encounter began around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday when the Metro Nashville Police Department made initial contact with the car on Highway 70 near the county line, according to WSMV. Cheatham County Sheriff's Office Captain Chris Gilmore said the driver then took off, prompting county deputies to intervene as the pursuit crossed into Cheatham County. During the attempted stop, a deputy fired shots at the car, and Gilmore said the deputy believed the driver was going to drive toward him.
The driver's car became disabled during the encounter, and deputies took the driver into custody. Investigators discovered the driver was wanted on multiple outstanding felony charges, though the specific charges tied to the fleeing incident itself have not yet been detailed. A passenger in the vehicle ran away on foot, and per Gilmore, deputies are not actively searching for that passenger.
A Legal Standard Rooted in Tennessee History
The shooting will inevitably be measured against a legal bar set by Tennessee's own history with police use of force. Under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Tennessee v. Garner, which originated from a Tennessee law enforcement incident in 1985, officers are constitutionally barred from using deadly force against a fleeing suspect unless there is probable cause to believe that person poses an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury. That precedent struck down the state's former fleeing-felon statute, which had allowed lethal force against any fleeing felon regardless of whether an immediate threat existed.
Whether the deputy's belief that the driver intended to drive toward him satisfies that constitutional threshold is the central question hanging over the case. It remains unclear whether the Cheatham County District Attorney General will request an independent review from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a step that state procedure allows local prosecutors to initiate when a deputy fires a weapon during an incident like this one.
Body Camera Footage Remains Under Wraps
Under Tennessee public records law, specifically T.C.A. § 38-8-311, investigative files and body-camera footage from officer-involved shooting investigations conducted by state agents stay restricted until prosecutorial review by the District Attorney General is fully finalized. That means it's unknown when, or whether, video of Wednesday's confrontation on Highway 70 will become public. It's also not yet clear what formal charges, if any, will be filed against the driver in connection with fleeing the stop.
A County Line Corridor With a History of Trouble
Highway 70 functions as a major cross-county artery linking western Davidson County, including Bellevue, with Cheatham County, running through a mix of rural and suburban terrain alongside the Harpeth River. That heavy commuter traffic between the two counties routinely forces coordination between Metro Nashville police and county deputies, and the corridor has seen its share of serious incidents. Hoodline reported in a fatal Highway 70 crash in April that led to vehicular homicide charges near the same county line.
Wednesday's shooting also lands amid a broader push by the Cheatham County Sheriff's Office to round up wanted fugitives. Sheriff Tim Binkley, who has led the department since September 2022, created a specialized Absconder Unit in May 2025 that has since located and arrested nearly 300 wanted fugitives with outstanding warrants across the county. The office oversees patrol, criminal investigations, drug enforcement, and corrections across Ashland City, Pegram, Kingston Springs, and Pleasant View.
For now, the core facts remain narrow: a routine traffic stop turned into gunfire, no one was struck, and a driver already facing felony warrants is back in custody. What happens next, whether the TBI gets involved, what charges follow, and whether the public ever sees the footage, depends on decisions still to come from prosecutors and investigators.
