NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The man fatally shot after charging at a Tennessee police officer with knives drawn was a fugitive suspect in a slaying on Massachusetts State Police’s Most Wanted list, according to authorities.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz identified the man Monday as Marvin Veiga, 32, and said in a statement that he was a suspect in the October 2020 shooting death of a 25-year-old man.
Veiga had remained on the loose until Friday, when Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Officer Christopher Royer fatally shot him during a traffic stop, department spokesman Don Aaron said.
Royer was on patrol in his police car when he ran a license plate for a white Mercedes sedan and found the plate was actually registered to a green 1998 Chevrolet, Aaron said. After the officer stopped the Mercedes, the passenger ran from the car holding a knife in each hand, according to the spokesman.
Royer could later be heard on the body camera video requesting backup, telling the passenger to drop the knives and saying, “I don’t want to shoot you.”
Veiga continued running at Royer, who fired three times, the video showed. Veiga died at a hospital and Royer was placed on administrative assignment.
Veiga was added to the Most Wanted list in March, shortly after officials obtained an arrest warrant charging him with murder, news outlets reported. Cruz said at the time that Veiga had “extensive ties to Boston.” It was not immediately clear what he was doing in Nashville on Friday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate the shooting and the police department will also review it. The local district attorney will decide whether to pursue charges after the TBI finishes the investigation.
