Marcos Palacios-Amaya Arrested For Firing Shots While Driving Through South Nashville

The man who drove around South Nashville this morning firing a stolen AR-15 from a red Nissan sedan is a convicted felon on probation out of Rutherford County.

Marcos Palacios-Amaya, 24, is now jailed in the Downtown Detention Center on charges of felony reckless endangerment, gun theft, unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon, and felony evading arrest.

Over a 1 hour 20 minute period this morning between 8:30 a.m. and 9:50 a.m., Palacios-Amaya is alleged to have fired rifle shots as he drove in the 3500 block of Calais Circle, the parking lot of Plaza Mariachi at 3955 Nolensville Pike, the parking lot of a strip shopping center at 3804 Nolensville Pike, and in the area of a mobile home park on Waikiki Boulevard at Hawaii Road. He also entered Plaza Mariachi carrying the rifle.

Officers throughout South Nashville were looking for the Nissan when it was spotted at 10:10 a.m. on Antioch Pike near Harding Place. Palacios-Amaya accelerated when an officer attempted to stop him, resulting in a pursuit. Palacios-Amaya traveled from South Nashville toward the Percy Priest Lake area. Officers deployed a spike strip and damaged the Nissan's tires near the intersection of Bell Road and Stewarts Ferry Pike. Palacios-Amaya continued driving across the Percy Priest dam until coming to a stop on Bell Road near Dodson Chapel Road. He complied with officers' commands and was taken into custody. Recovered from the car was the rifle, which was stolen as part of an August 5th vehicle theft on Hickory Woods Drive in Nashville.

In an interview at police headquarters, Palacios-Amaya admitted to firing the shots to scare people. He said he also fired shots in the LaVergne area this morning before driving to South Nashville. The United States Attorney's Office is being consulted about his actions for a determination on potential federal charges.

Palacios-Amaya has auto burglary and felony theft convictions out of Williamson County stemming from a September 2020 case, and a felony theft conviction out of Rutherford County stemming from a January 2021 case. He was on probation in Rutherford County at the time of his arrest today.