Prosecutors released courthouse video of Jack Gregory Henson II before a security officer shot him.

A released security video is the prosecutors' account of what the lobby camera recorded. It is not a finding that the officer's shots were justified, and it is not a charge against anyone. WSMV says the court security officer fired. NewsChannel 5 says that officer works with the Marshals Service and is not a deputy marshal. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is still on the case, and the motive is still unknown.

WSMV reported Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, that a joint release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee and the District Attorney General's Office for the 20th Judicial District, which covers Davidson County, says Jack Gregory Henson II entered the Fred D. Thompson Federal Courthouse in downtown Nashville at about 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 and displayed a firearm and a knife at the security checkpoint. WSMV reported he was 41. Earlier accounts had said 42. NewsChannel 5 reported the same release and the same name, put his age at 41, and put the time at just before 9:30 a.m. WSMV reported he pointed the weapons toward court security officers, then moved quickly toward one officer with the knife out, close enough to strike, and that the court security officer fired. NewsChannel 5 reported the video shows him displaying a knife and then a gun, pointing them at officers, and approaching with the knife raised before the officer shoots and he falls. The station reported the officer who fired works with the United States Marshals Service, is not a deputy marshal, and has not been named.

The gun is described the same way in both stories, with one difference on whether it went off. WSMV and NewsChannel 5 reported it was a North American Arms .22-caliber revolver that Henson bought from a licensed dealer in North Carolina in February 2022, that it was loaded, and that a spent casing was still in the cylinder. Both reported officials do not believe he fired it inside the courthouse. NewsChannel 5 also reported Metro Nashville police have said he tried to fire and the gun did not discharge. WSMV reported the revolver can fold into its handle. The joint release includes a lobby video of about 33 seconds. Both stations reported the clip has no sound. WSMV reported U.S. Marshals personnel gave aid until emergency crews arrived, that Henson later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, that no one else was injured, and that he did not get past the checkpoint.

Why he was there is still open. WSMV reported authorities had said he was not at the courthouse for a hearing and that the motive remains unknown. NewsChannel 5 reported it is not yet clear why he might have come to Nashville or whether he was targeting anyone. The joint release says the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating at the request of District Attorney General Glenn Funk and the U.S. Marshals Service, and that officials will not comment further until that work is done. NewsChannel 5 also reported the TBI is investigating. WSMV reported he lived in North Carolina and ran a mechanic shop, that the TBI says he had no criminal record in Tennessee, and that a North Carolina check showed only a couple of traffic tickets. The video and stills are what prosecutors put out Monday. They are not a completed review of the shooting. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.