Suspect Arrested Following This Afternoon's Officer-Involved Shooting At A Dickerson Pike Motel

Cold Case Unit detectives are investigating this afternoon's gunfire between Christopher Whitaker, 51, of Hendersonville, and East Precinct patrol officers at the Royal Inn on Dickerson Pike.

Officers arrived at the motel at 1 p.m. after a stolen Infiniti Q50 was located in the parking lot. Motel staff advised the three occupants of the vehicle were in a first-floor room.

After knocking for a few minutes, officers opened the door and two occupants, a man and woman, exited. As officers were detaining the first two occupants, the third, Whitaker, barricaded himself in the bathroom.

Despite commands to come outside with his hands up, Whitaker began firing from the bathroom toward officers.

Officer Jacob Krispin and Officer Randy Puckett, both 9-year veterans of the MNPD, returned fire after taking cover. Whitaker eventually surrendered unarmed and was taken into custody.

No one was injured as a result of the gunfire.

Whitaker, who had two outstanding failure to appear warrants from 2023, will be charged tonight with four counts of aggravated assault on police officers among other charges.

A segment of Officer Zachary Carter's body-worn camera footage, providing a concise view of what occurred, can be seen at this link.