Authorities in Tennessee are searching for the son of Nashville’s police chief as a suspect in the Saturday shooting of two suburban police officers.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued a statewide blue alert late Saturday in an effort to locate the suspect, John Drake Jr., warning that the 38-year-old, who is now wanted on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, should be considered “armed and very dangerous.”
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake confirmed that the suspect is his son.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened to learn that my estranged son, with whom I have had very minimal contact over many years, is the suspect in this afternoon’s shooting of the two La Vergne police officers,” Chief Drake said Saturday, adding that his thoughts are with the wounded officers.
“Despite my efforts and guidance in the early and teenage years, my son, John Drake Jr., now 38-years-old, resorted to years of criminal activity and is a convicted felon,” the chief said.
“He has not been a part of my life for quite some time.”
Police say the shooting happened during an altercation Saturday night in La Vergne, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.
“Our officers were investigating a stolen vehicle. During that investigation, they made contact with a subject,” La Vergne Police Chief Christopher Moews said in a Saturday press conference. “They struggled with that subject, and during that struggle, the suspect produced a handgun and fired shots.”
One officer was shot in the shoulder and the other was shot in the groin and forearm. The officers, who have both been with the force for less than three years, were transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Moews said.
One officer was released Saturday evening and the other remains in the hospital in stable condition, the city of La Vergne said in a statement.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which issues blue alerts when there’s “an imminent threat to public safety and law enforcement personnel,” described the suspect as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 195 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.
The agency said he was last seen in the city of LaVergne around 2:30 p.m. Saturday “in the area of Stones River Road near Lake Forest Drive, wearing a black t-shirt with a hockey mask on it with red accents, and gray sweatpants.”
The city of LaVergne had a shelter in place order in effect for most of Saturday night. The city said it was continuing search efforts, but lifted the order shortly after midnight, citing no immediate threat to the public.
