Police chief's son, wanted in shooting of 2 officers is found dead, officials say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The estranged son of Nashville’s police chief, who was wanted in the shooting of two police officers outside a Dollar General store, has been found dead, authorities said.

Officers responded to 15th Avenue South in Nashville on Tuesday night, where they heard a muffled gunshot from an outbuilding and then found John C. Drake Jr. dead with a gunshot wound that was apparently self-inflicted, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement posted on social media. TBI will investigate Drake’s death at District Attorney Glenn Funk’s request and a full autopsy will be performed as a part of the investigation, the agency said.

Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said the younger Drake stole a car at gunpoint from a home southeast of downtown on Tuesday evening, WSMV-TV reported. Drake asked a man and woman in front of a home for a ride and when they were unable or unwilling to give him a ride, he pulled out a gun and demanded the car in the driveway, Aaron said. Drake drove away.

Officers spotted the car a short time later and followed it to the Edgehill area south of downtown, where it crashed. Drake fled to a shed behind a home and when officers surrounded the area, a gunshot was heard, Aaron said.