A security guard shot and killed a man who was armed with a gun at an entry checkpoint in the federal courthouse building in Nashville on Thursday morning, the authorities said.
The man, who was in his 40s, tried to enter the front door of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building around 9:30 a.m. local time and tried to fire his gun, “but it did not fire,” Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police, told reporters at the scene.
The man then “transitioned to a knife” at the checkpoint, Mr. Aaron said, which led to a confrontation with a security guard who then shot the man.
The man, who was from out of state and whose name was not released, was critically wounded and taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died, Mr. Aaron said.
It was not clear why the man was at the courthouse. Rob McGuire, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in an interview that the man was not listed as a defendant or plaintiff in court records.
The authorities searched the man’s vehicle, which was parked outside the building, and “found nothing threatening inside the car,” Mr. Aaron said.
A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that the department was assisting in the investigation.
Other agencies including the F.B.I., the U.S. Marshals Service and the Nashville police were also assisting with the investigation, Mr. McGuire said.
Local TV outlets showed a large police presence near the courthouse. Mr. Aaron said the nearby Nashville Public Library had been evacuated “out of an abundance of caution.”
Mr. McGuire said that the front entrance to the building was closed on Thursday and that most employees sheltered in place during the shooting, which took place during a busy time at the courthouse. Prosecutors, judges and members of Mr. McGuire’s staff work in the building, which also has offices for Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.
“We are thankful it was not worse,” Mr. McGuire said, noting that this was the first time this type of episode happened at the courthouse, which opened in 2022.
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