One man is dead and a Denton police officer is in the hospital after a violent incident overnight, according to the Denton Police Department.
Just before 3 a.m., officers were dispatch to a disturbance in the 200 block of Inman Street in south Denton, according to a news release from the department. Multiple callers reported a man was banging on doors and yelling for someone to open the door, and he had a frying pan in his hand and was shattering all the light fixtures in the hallway.
Officers arrived and tried to find the suspect. They were standing at the base of the main staircase and one of them was getting information from a caller when the suspect came out of an apartment and down the stairs, toward the officers, with a cleaver and frying pan in his hands, according to police. Officers yelled at him to drop the weapons, but he kept moving toward the officers, so one of them deployed his Taser, striking the suspect and causing him to fall.
The suspect immediately got up and kept coming toward the officers. One officer then shot him, and he fell to the ground, according to the news release. Police began life-saving measures and called for paramedics, and “it was during this time that another officer was found to have been stabbed by the suspect.”
The suspect and injured officer were transported to a local hospital, where the suspect was pronounced deceased and the officer was admitted in stable condition. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to the news release. The identities of the suspect, the injured officer and the officer who shot the suspect have not been identified Tuesday morning, but police did say that the injured officer has more than 10 years of law enforcement experience and the officer who discharged his weapon has six years of service with the Denton Police Department.
The Texas Rangers will investigate the incident and the officer who discharged his weapon will be placed on administrative duty, which are standard practices, according to police.
