Nashville Officer Injured, Suspect Dead in Motel Shooting

NASHVILLE, TN — A Nashville police officer attempting to serve a warrant at a Trinity Lane motel was shot in the shoulder early Tuesday morning and the suspect was later found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The officer, Terrance McBride, was part of a team serving a warrant to a suspect at the Cumberland Inn on Trinity Lane near Interstate 24 around 5:20 Tuesday morning.

“As they were checking the bathroom, shots were fired toward them,” Metro Police spokesperson Kristin Mumford said. “They didn’t see the individual and they returned fire and left the room.”

The East Precinct officer was hit in the shoulder by shotgun fire and taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. He is in stable condition and scheduled for surgery later today.

The suspect, Paul Hardesty, 43, remained barricaded inside the hotel, which had been evacuated, until shortly after 8:30 a.m., when Metro Police reported that he was found dead inside the hotel room from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Metro Police said Hardesty is a parolee from New York whose supervision was assumed by Tennessee in March.

Images via Metro Police