Tennessee Man Shot To Death By Police on Facebook Live Before Asking For A High Ranking Officer

Authorities in Tennessee are investigating the shooting death of an unarmed Black man by sheriff’s deputies, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

Sheriff deputies in Tennessee fatally shot Rodney James Hess, 36, who authorities said allegedly tried to hit officers with his vehicle, and who recorded the shooting on Facebook live.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Hess parked his sport-utility vehicle on a highway off ramp at around 2:15 p.m., say he was allegedly acting erratically and at one point “attempted to use his vehicle to strike the officers at least twice.”

“During the escalation of events” at least one Crockett County sheriff’s deputy fired through the windshield, the agency said in a statement to NBC. Hess was airlifted to a hospital and later died.

Several videos have been released of the incident. One of the two featured below shows Hess asking for a high ranking officer before being shot and then driving off.

“I need the higher commands to come out”

Gunshots are heard, and Hess is heard screaming in pain while driving and appearing to crash the vehicle. The video does not capture exactly what happened at the moment shots were fired.

Rodney James Hess, family photo

Hess’s family said he is originally from New Orleans but moved to Tennessee because of Hurricane Katrina.

“Rodney was a father, a son and hard worker,” his cousin Donald Hess III told NBC News. “Rodney suffered from mental illness but was a functioning member of society. He often traveled for work — mostly construction work — and he did everything for his children.”

Though two videos have been posted, Hess’ relatives went on Facebook to ask any witnesses to come forward.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will hand over the findings of the investigation to 28th District Attorney General Garry Brown, who will decide whether to send the case to a grand jury, DeVine said.