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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Prosecutors on Thursday filed a homicide charge against a white police officer who shot and killed a black man, securing approval from a judge after a setback earlier in the day.
District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office alleged that Nashville Officer Andrew Delke, 25, broke the law on July 26 when he shot Daniel Hambrick, who was running away during a foot chase. Hambrick, also 25, was hit three times: twice in the back and once in the back of the head.
Judge Michael Mondelli signed off on the charge just before noon, reversing a move earlier Thursday from a magistrate who said there was not enough evidence to support a case.
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No Nashville police officer in recent memory has been charged after shooting someone while they were on duty.
Funk sat silently at the prosecutor's table in Mondelli's courtroom as the judge considered the charge and signed off on an arrest warrant.
Delke surrendered to be booked into jail, quickly paid his $25,000 bond and was released by Thursday afternoon.
Nashville mayor issues statement on charge
Nashiville Mayor David Briley voiced support for the charge.
"In August, I spoke with Daniel Hambrick’s mother to express my condolences for her loss. I assured her that we would show respect for the life of her son, because his life mattered," Briley said. "At that time, Ms. Hambrick asked for justice for Daniel. The District Attorney’s decision to file charges in this case is a necessary step toward that end."
"I fully support our police," Briley said. "However, officers will be required to account for their actions when they have been accused of misconduct. Put simply, we must have laws that are fairly, equally and transparently applied."
The Fraternal Order of Police signaled it was ready for a tenacious legal battle.
Delke's defenders said he was right to defend himself because he saw Hambrick holding a handgun during the chase. Delke's defense attorney David Raybin said his client would plead not guilty.
Prosecutors did not challenge the fact that Hambrick was armed, but they rejected the self-defense argument, noting in the warrant that the officer stopped running during the chase, aimed at Hambrick as he was running away and opened fire.
For a brief period Thursday morning, the charge against Delke appeared to be on unsure footing.
Night Court Magistrate Evan Harris, who was the first person to vet evidence in the potential criminal case, said prosecutors did not have enough proof to move forward with a homicide charge.
"Based upon their statements and the affidavit I was not going to issue this warrant," Harris said afterward.
Within 80 minutes, Funk and top members of his team had secured a reversal in Mondelli's courtroom.
Delke charge comes amid call for police oversight
Mondelli's reversal, coupled with an anticipated surge of new information from court documents, is a boon to community activists who had marched through North Nashville streets protesting Hambrick’s death and calling for more oversight for the police department. Activists have pushed for a civilian board that would have the power to investigate allegations of police misconduct – a matter that is set for the Nov. 6 ballot.
Activists from grassroots groups like Black Lives Matter and Community Oversight Now reiterated their calls for an oversight board Thursday.
"While the news is encouraging in regards to this decision, Community Oversight Now reinstates its insistence there be independent oversight of policing in Nashville," Community Oversight Now said in a statement. "There has long been a call for more
transparency in the investigations, training and misconduct of Nashville police officers."
Reached by phone, Vickie Hambrick, Daniel Hambrick's mother, declined to comment, referring a reporter to her attorney Joy Kimbrough. Kimbrough has not yet responded.
NAACP officials struck a note of optimism during a news conference responding to the Delke charge.
"Let us say that we are excited that at last Lady Justice is truly blind, and at last a person that has committed a crime that wears blue has been" charged, said Gloria Sweet-Love, NAACP chapter president in Nashville.
Protests have rippled through Nashville and the nation in recent years as more scrutiny has fallen on police shootings that kill black men and boys.
In 2017, the protests in Nashville became more potent after a white police officer shot and killed Jocques Clemmons, who was black, during a foot chase.
Funk declined to press charges in that case because a witness said Clemmons picked up a gun during a struggle with the officer.
But the district attorney criticized the police department for using paperwork and protocols that he said created the appearance of racial bias. The police bristled, saying Funk and his team had unfairly mischaracterized their work – Chief Steve Anderson dismissed Funk’s criticism as “political posturing.”
Funk’s decision in the Delke case is likely to widen the rift between the city’s top law enforcement agencies.
Police Chief Steve Anderson announced Delke had been decommissioned, and that an internal investigation into Delke's conduct remains open.
The ACLU of Tennessee cheered Funk's move to charge Delke in a statement.
“The arrest of Officer Delke for the killing of Daniel Hambrick is a crucial first step in setting the wheels of accountability and justice in motion," the statement read. "Officer Delke must receive due process during the proceedings. However, the arrest in and of itself sends an important – yet all too rare – message to the community that nobody is above the law.”
Follow Adam Tamburin on Twitter @tamburintweets.
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