We want to bring you together to give you
an update on Officer involved shooting
involving identity police officer.
It occurred on earlier this morning.
So at approximately 1:30 this morning,
I call came into our emergency
communications division.
With a male reporting that he is
going to kill himself and quote,
get it over with because of
some problems he is having
with his lady. Immediately, officers
were dispatched. The first officers
arrived on scene at
about 1:35 AM. Upon arriving on scene,
officers made contact with a white
male who had a white female in kind of
a neck restraint and holding a knife.
Two of her body.
The white male is described in his late 20s.
We're not going to give out his
identification right now pending
notification to his relatives and make
sure Mexican has been properly notified.
Upon arriving on scene making contact
with the mail or officers started setting
up a perimeter and that's so they could
contain the situation where it was,
and also so we didn't introduce
anyone else into the problem.
So our officers then attempted to
establish contact with the male.
One officer in particular and
only one officer was trying to
engage the male into conversation.
While trying to engage in communication,
other officers were so arriving on
scene information was being put out,
broadcast over the radio that the
officers were dealing with a subject that
had a female as a hostage.
After about 5:00 or 6 minutes of
them attempting to negotiate.
There were words being exchanged
back and forth between the hatches,
taker and our police officers.
And I I have to tell you from the beginning,
our officer showed a tremendous amount
of restraint and professionalism.
Our officer in particular that
was attempting to deescalate and
communicate with the hostage taker,
did a tremendous job and sustained very calm.
Try to engage him trying to really
connect with him on a human level.
As those communications were happening,
the hostage taker would raise
the knife up to the female,
almost in a stabbing motion several times.
So at one point,
as the knife was being raised,
we had one officer fired one
round from his patrol rifle,
striking the subject.
In his upper torso, the subject fell.
Officers were able to move up
and remove the hostage from the
area around the hostage taker.
We had a Lieutenant on scene that
then took charge and did a very
good job of combing everything down.
Kind of resetting.
And then devising a plan to go up and
disarm the male who is still holding
the knife as he was laying on the ground.
As officers approached the male to take
him into custody and provide medical care.
A Taser was deployed because
he was still crouched,
and the knife was still very visible.
In his hands.
They were successful in that
Taser deployment.
They moved up,
disengaged the knife from him,
rolled him over,
and then started assessing him
while simultaneously calling for
paramedics to come up and provide a.
Paramedics were on scene and moving
up to him in the next minute or so.
I can tell you that the subject was
transported to a local hospital were
unfortunately he was pronounced
deceased a short time later.
As I said in the beginning,
we're not going to be releasing
his name because we want to make
sure that his next of kin has been
notified prior to that happening.
As is protocol for the Denton
Police Department,
the Texas Rangers are out here conducting
the initial investigation on those shooting.
While simultaneously our internal
affairs will be conducting an
internal investigation for any
administrative or policy violations.
There's not going to be a lot
that I can answer because one,
we're not conducting the investigation
into the investigation is very,
very young in nature.
There's a lot to be to
be done at this point.
What I can tell you is
to our community.
I would just ask
that everyone take a moment to say a
prayer for the officers involved for
the decedent and his family.
You know he is somebody.
Brother, somebody son in for the hostage.
Thank goodness that we were
able to rescue her without her
being harmed or injured as well.
So with that I'll stop there
and open up for any questions,
but just understand there's going to be
something I can't answer at this point.
What can you
tell us about the female that was taken
hostage victim relation or with the
suspect? Yeah, right now we're working
through what their relationship
was and that will come out.
I'm sure during the course
of the Rangers investigation.
How long did the incident
take from dispatch to finish
so they were dispatched shortly after 1:30?
The first units arrived on scene about 1:35,
so about a four or five minute response
time to get here and then negotiation
started as soon as they got here.
They almost immediately
were met with the subject,
the hostage taker and the hostage.
OK, thank you guys. Just to clarify, it
was one officer that discharged his service
weapon or I'm sorry it's
a service assault rifle.
His patrol rifle. There was only one
officer who discharged his patrol like what
can you tell us about that officer?
As far as years in service or
anything that you can release?
Yeah be officer is also a white male.
He's smelling the department for
about 2 1/2 years. At this point,
maybe a little bit less than that
and that's it.
Can you say how many officers
were involved in total in their
response to this? There are quite
a few officers that responded initially
because of the initial comments
about wanting to kill himself.
Being apartment complex,
understand that we have a
very wide area to contain,
so that takes a lot of manpower to
make sure because they are almost in
a courtyard setting where they were
at so trying to cover all the avenues
where not only could they escape,
but more importantly we didn't want other
residents getting interjected into it.
Can you tell us about the officers
as far as their response?
Did they? They obviously helped.
Saved to a certain extent,
this hostage females life right?
OK, I can. I can tell you you know
this is the type of work that
police officers across the country.
It's basically I've done a daily basis
and it's nothing that a
police officer wants to do.
No police officer wants to come to
work and has to take a human life.
But unfortunately sometimes you have
to take a life in order to save a life.
Which is what happened
in this instance. Any charges?
The officers stand as
the right boys duty wise,
so the author that was
involved that fired the shot
will be placed on administrative
leave pending the outcome of
the investigation by both the Texas
Rangers and the Internal service.
So this incident took place back.
So this apartment complex and it was it
in between some buildings or like so
if you can picture the side of
this building it will look similar
to that in the courtyard area behind it.
I can tell you that our officers that were
trying to negotiate with the hostage taker
they're on the farthest corner away from him.
So the length of the building plus a couple
more feet where he was standing there.
Or the residents of this apartment.
The well now deceased and the female.
So they're going to be working
through getting all that information.
We don't know if they actually resided here.
If they were here visiting
someone or what that is,
but that relationship and
where they live will come out.
Thank you, thank you.