A sword-wielding man who police say threatened to kill a coffee-shop clerk was fatally shot Saturday after a woman inside his Hyundai sedan told police she was being held against her will after an hourslong standoff.
Jason William Sexton, 54, was outside the vehicle on Nashville’s Cheshire Drive with a sword in hand when SWAT Officer Joshua Baney fired three shots, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department. Sexton was taken to Skyline Medical Center, where he died.
The 26-year-old woman in the back seat of Sexton’s Hyundai was not injured, police said.
The confrontation began hours earlier at a Shell market on Charlotte Avenue, police said. Sexton allegedly argued with a clerk over payment for coffee, drove away, then returned carrying a full-size sword.
The clerk locked the doors before Sexton could get inside, police said. Sexton then allegedly yelled, “Come outside now, I’ll kill you.” Officers later obtained a felony aggravated assault warrant against him.
About an hour later, a female relative called 911 and told police Sexton was armed with a sword, had posted Instagram videos displaying it and was a danger to others, according to the department.
A police helicopter spotted Sexton’s Hyundai at a Dickerson Pike carwash and tracked it as it traveled to Cheshire Drive, police said. Ground units moved in behind the car after it stopped.
Sexton got out carrying the sword and began yelling at officers while the woman remained inside, authorities said.
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Patrol officers spent more than an hour trying to persuade Sexton to surrender, police said. During the standoff, the woman in the car told officers she was being held against her will.
SWAT officers were called as the standoff dragged on and were developing a plan to take Sexton into custody. Baney, a 12-year Metro Nashville police veteran, was initially told to help block the Hyundai with his police truck, police said.
Baney then got out, took a position at the rear of a patrol vehicle and fired three times at Sexton as he held the sword, according to police.
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In the aftermath of the shooting, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake directed that Baney be decommissioned and relieved of all police authority while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation examines the case on behalf of District Attorney General Glenn Funk.
The Metro Nashville Police Department is conducting a separate administrative investigation into Baney’s use of force.
Officers had also been trying to arrest Sexton since Friday on outstanding warrants accusing him of violating an order of protection and criminal trespassing, police said. He allegedly sped away from officers and evaded arrest on Murfreesboro Pike around midday Friday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the shooting, police said.
Officials have not released any further details at this time.
