Daniel Hambrick, 25, was stopped by Officer Andrew Delke for a traffic violation on July 26, 2018. At some point, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an altercation occurred, and Hambrick allegedly had a dark object in his hand that was perceived to be a gun.
A foot chase ensued, and Delke shot a fleeing Hambrick twice in the back and once in the back of his head. The shooting, which was partially caught on tape, traumatized Nashville as the latest police shooting of a Black man. Now after an investigation, Delke has been charged with murder in Hambrick’s death. According to News-5, there was controversy among the judges when the District Attorney’s Office sought a criminal homicide charge in the case.
One magistrate judge refused to sign off on the homicide charge saying there was not enough evidence. The District Attorney’s Office later found another judge who disagreed and felt there was cause to charge Delke with homicide.
An arrest warrant was issued, and Delke surrendered later in the day. He was able to post $25,000 bond and released awaiting arraignment. District Attorney Glenn Funk released the following statement:
“This morning I requested TBI Special Agent in Charge Russ Winkler to obtain a warrant charging officer Andrew Delke with criminal homicide. The decision to institute charges by warrant as opposed to presenting the matter directly to a Grand Jury allows this case to be presented in open court in as transparent a manner as possible because Grand Jury proceedings are secret and not open to the public. As this is a pending criminal case, I will have no further extrajudicial comments.”
