Nashville Police Officer Drowning: Petition Asks for Park to Be Renamed for Eric Mumaw

NASHVILLE, TN — In less than 48 hours, nearly 700 people signed a petition to rename Peeler Park for Metro Nashville police officer Eric Mumaw, who drowned in the Cumberland River during the successful rescue of an apparently suicidal woman Thursday.

A petition created by Christy Wilson asks Mayor Megan Barry and Metro Councilman Bill Pridemore, who represents the Neely's Bend area, to rename Peeler Park as Eric Mumaw Park, calling it a "fitting tribute" to the officer.

Peeler Park, at the end of Neely's Bend Road, is named for Euston N. Peeler, whose farm was bought by the city in 1963 as the initial 257 acres of the park. An additional 16 acres was added to the park in 1969 with the purchase of the former Sun Valley Swim Club and the park added another 388 acres with the purchase of the Taylor Farm in 2009.

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It's unusual for Metro to rename parks, as the petition asks. Old Center Park was renamed Cedar Hill Park in 1964 and what is now Cumberland Park was known tentatively as Adventure Park.

Mumaw, a decorated veteran of the Metro police force, and two other officers, Trent Craig and Nick Diamond, were talking to Juli Glisson, 40, on the boat ramp at Peeler Park on Neely's Bend around 4:30 Thursday morning, after a family reported that she was drunk and suicidal. According to investigators, Craig reached into the car to keep Glisson from putting the car into gear. As Mumaw opened the driver's side door, police say Glisson shifted the car out of park, causing it to roll down the ramp. Mumaw and Diamond went with the car, lost their footing on the edge of the ramp and went into the Cumberland River.

Diamond lost his grip on Mumaw, who was pulled into deeper water. Craig ran from the shoreline into the water to try to save his colleague, but was unsuccessful. A Nashville Fire Department diver discovered Mumaw's body around 8:30 a.m.

Glisson, who is on probation from an April 2016 DUI conviction, will be arrested for vehicular homicide when she is released from the hospital. Metro Police will be handling the investigation, despite the fact that one of their officers was involved, the department told The Tennessean.

Glisson's boyfriend, Kevin Hurt, told WSMV that she went to Smyrna's StoneCrest Medical Center on Wednesday because she was suicidal, but was told she couldn't stay because she did not have health insurance.

Mumaw's memorial service is set for noon Monday at Cornerstone Church in Madison, with visitation at the church beginning at 9 a.m. The police department announced that Mumaw's body will be escorted from Spring Hill Funeral Home to the church by officers beginning at 7 a.m. via Due West and Graycroft.

Image via Metro Police