A man is dead after he was shot by a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office SWAT officer during what authorities said was a standoff and an exchange of gunfire with deputies in Cordova Wednesday, Jan. 26.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the incident began about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, when a deputy spotted a car on Houston Levee near Pisgah Road. Millington Police had issued a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) alert for the car earlier Tuesday.

“A traffic stop was initiated but the driver failed to comply with officers’ orders to exit the vehicle, resulting in a standoff,” the TBI said in a statement about the preliminary investigation.

SCSO said the man, identified by TBI officials as 20-year-old John Hunt of Memphis, waved a rifle and barricaded himself in his vehicle.

The SCSO SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called to the scene. As negotiators were working to connect with the man for an hour, authorities said the man broke through police barricades and sped off, hitting a SWAT vehicle and a deputy’s car that were damaged.

SCSO deputies pursued the man during what authorities said was a “slow-speed chase.” During the chase, they said Hunt fired several shots.

The chase continued for about five miles to a dead-end street on Dexter Road near Milbray Street in Cordova early Wednesday morning.

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“According to preliminary information from the scene, around 2 a.m., the driver exited the vehicle with a weapon resulting in a SWAT officer firing and striking the individual,” the TBI said. The man was pronounced dead on the scene.

TBI spokeswoman Keli McAlister said in an update Wednesday that no other injuries were reported in the incident and TBI agents were on the scene investigating.

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“TBI agents continue to work to independently determine a series of events leading to the shooting including collecting evidence and conducting interviews,” McAlister said.

The details of the shooting will be turned over to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, which requests TBI’s involvement in all officer-involved shootings in Memphis and Shelby County.

The name of the SWAT officer who shot and killed Hunt will not be released by SCSO. 

McAlister referred questions about the BOLO to Millington police. Millington Police Department could not be reached immediately.

Wednesday’s fatal police shooting is the third this year in Tennessee and the first one to date in Shelby County. Last year, the TBI investigated 55 police shootings in Tennessee and five in Memphis and Shelby County.