Former Nashville Metro Police Officer Andrew Delke took a plea deal in court this morning in the deadly on-duty shooting of Daniel Hambrick.

Delke pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to three years behind bars.

Delke was scheduled to stand trial starting July 12 and was charged with first-degree murder.

The incident happened three years ago when Delke stated he encountered a white Chevy Impala at the red light of 10th Avenue North and Kellow Street in Nashville. Delke became suspicious when the car stopped and conceded the right of way by not pulling out in front of his patrol vehicle. The Impala turned onto 10th Avenue North and Delke followed it.

Delke turned on his blue lights as the car entered I-65 South at Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, but the driver of the Impala reportedly did not pull over. Delke instead turned off his emergency lights and followed the car from a distance.

Delke would wind up on Charlotte Avenue where he continued driving through the neighborhood, looking for the Impala, but mistook a different white four-door sedan for the car he was looking for in an apartment parking lot. The affidavit states when Delke pulled into the lot, Daniel Hambrick started to run for an unknown reason.

Delke started chasing Hambrick on foot, yelling for Hambrick to stop. Officials say Delke did not recognize the man he was running after, but believed he may have been connected to the white car that Delke misidentified as being stolen. Delke also claimed he saw Hambrick with a gun.

Court papers state Delke stopped and aimed his service weapon before shooting Hambrick. Authorities say Delke fired four times. One hit Hambrick in the center of his back and lodged in his spine. Another went through Hambrick’s left torso from back to front. The third bullet made its way through the back of Hambrick’s head into the front of his skull. And the last, struck a neighbouring building.

After Judge Monte Watkins accepted the plea deal this morning, chaos broke out in the courtroom

Hambrick’s mother urged the judge not to accept Delke’s plea deal and at one point knocked over a podium. Hambrick’s family left the courtroom and joined protesters outside.

Reading a statement in court, Delke said he took responsibility for the death of Hambrick.

“I recognize what happened on July 26, 2018, was tragic. Mrs. Hambrick lost her son that day, and I am responsible for her loss. These are facts that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. And no mother should ever have to experience the loss of her child and not a day has gone by that I have not thought about my actions. I also recognize my actions impacted the community and the police department. I hope this case can contribute positively to the much-needed discussion about how police officers are trained and how we as a community want police officers to interact with citizens. I am deeply sorry for the harm my actions caused and I hope that Mr. Hambrick’s family will retain some comfort from my acceptance of responsibility and my guilty plea today.”