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TBI investigating first Collierville Police officer-involved shooting since 1989

Collierville man is dead, shot and killed Monday morning by Collierville Police in the department’s first officer-involved shooting in three decades.
Collierville police involved in deadly shooting

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. (localmemphis.com)  Collierville man is dead, shot and killed Monday morning by Collierville Police in the department’s first officer-involved shooting in three decades.

It happened a little after 8 a.m. Monday in the 900 block of Valleywood Cove.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the victim as 59-year-old David Hoal. The victim’s son told Local 24 his father was great man who will be sorely missed.

As a TBI team breaks down what happened, surrounding neighbors were both stunned and saddened.

“It can happen anywhere but the fact that it happened here, hits pretty close to home,” Kirsten Clark said.

It’s a sight neighbors in the Collierville subdivision rarely see: police activity up and down the block, the aftermath of the community’s first officer involved shooting since 1989.

It’s scary, Maxine Richardson said. I mean that’s right here in our front door.

A TBI spokesperson said multiple Collierville police officers went to a home on Valleywood Cove Monday morning. They responded to a possibly suicidal man in his backyard with a gun: 59-year-old David Hoal.

After repeated demands for the man to drop his weapon, at some point, for reasons still under investigation, at least one of the officers opened fire, striking and killing the man, TBI spokesperson Keli McAlister said.

It’s heartbreaking and scary for neighbors, Richardson said. It could have been worse.

Some neighbors said they respected the risks of police calls involving armed people.

That’s a lot to put someone through you know, to have to go through, to make those kind of decisions, spur of the moment like that, Scott Lannom said.

Others sympathized with the victim’s situation and said it shed light on a broader issue.

“I guess it can happen anywhere when someone is suicidal, I think a lot of the problems with guns is related to mental health,” Barbara Kelley said.

The TBI will release its findings to Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, who will decide whether to charge any of the Collierville officers. Right now, the department isn’t released the names of the officers who responded to the home Monday morning.

Collierville officers do not wear body cameras.

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