Cleveland Man Shot to Death in Confrontation With Police Officers

CLEVELAND, TN (WDEF-TV) – T-B-I Agents have taken over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting death of a Cleveland man this morning.
The two officers who were at the Southwest Cleveland home are now on leave until the case is resolved.

This usually quiet neighborhood in southwest Cleveland was rocked by gunfire Tuesday morning, and there are still more questions than answers as to what happened.

JERRY CROSS,NEIGHBOR "I was sitting out on my back porch..me and my wife was, and we heard shots go off but we though it was maybe somebody lit a pack of fireworks."l

The case was handed off to TBI agents who tell WDEF News 12 that 51 year old Robert Edwin Eaves was the man who challenged officers around 11:30 a.m.
They says Eaves abducted a 28-year-old female neighbor from a location near his home, and took her to this residence on Phillips Street.
At that home were three children and a 16-year-old babysitter inside.
Eaves gained entry to the home, and threatened the safety of those inside.
But one of the children was able to call their mother, who immediately notified authorities.
Two Cleveland Police officers soon arrived to the house to confront Eaves.
The officers, identified as 25 year old Jacob Varnell and 45 year old Jody Musselwhite say Eaves produced a knife and attempted to assault them near the front of the small, white frame house.
The report is not clear as to whether one or both of the officers fired his service weapon, hitting and killing Eaves.

DESSIE HELTON, NEIGHBOR "They took uh..5 or 6 kids and put them in an ambulance and took them away. I mean led them in, they weren’t hurt or sick or nothing."

The body of Eaves remained near the front door as the investigation continued.
Investigators offered no information as to why Eaves brought the woman to that particular house .
Varnell and Musselwhite are on routine administrative leave, according to Cleveland Police Department policy.

TBI agents continue to investigate that case at the request of 10th District Attorney General Steve Crump.