A man is in critical condition and a police officer slightly injured after an incident at Butternut and South First streets Monday evening, according to a media release.
At 6:30 p.m., officers from the Abilene Police Department were dispatched to perform a welfare check on a man there, the APD said in a media release. Several 911 callers had expressed concern about the individual who was reported to appear disoriented and in distress.
Officers arrived to find the man agitated and spent about 15 minutes trying to calm the situation, the APD said. As they attempted to do so, the subject began walking into the street, endangering himself as motorists passed by.
After ignoring the officers’ repeated commands for him to get out of the roadway, the man allegedly began to fight the officers after they attempted to physically remove him, APD said. One of the officers attempted to Taser the man but with ineffective results.
Then the man allegedly grabbed at an officer’s holstered pistol, gaining partial control and discharging the firearm, police said. In response, the other officer drew his own firearm and shot the subject.
The man was transported to Hendrick Medical Center where he was last reported as in critical condition, police said. The wounded officer sustained a minor injury to his leg.
The Reporter-News reached out to the APD Tuesday morning to request any updated information on the man’s condition and to find out if the wounded officer also went to a hospital for treatment.
Per standard procedure, the officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while the Texas Rangers and APD’s Criminal Investigations Division conduct concurrent investigations, police said.
The identity of the injured man will be released once the individual’s next of kin notifications have been made, police said.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene police say officer shot man during struggle
Reporting by Ronald W. Erdrich, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
