Texas Man Dead After Police Standoff Over His Overgrown Lawn Leads to Shootout and House Fire

An Austin, Texas man was shot by a SWAT officer and eventually died Wednesday, ending a police standoff that lasted several hours, The Sacramento Bee reports. 

Austin police arrived at the unidentified man’s residence shortly after 9 a.m. to serve him a search warrant for “nuisance abatement” over the length of grass in his front and back yard. Since he didn’t answer the door, the officers left a copy of the warrant on his door, and contractors started working on his lawn. 

About an hour later, someone from inside the home started firing in the direction of the contractors, who immediately sought cover. SWAT were called to the scene, and arrived 20 minutes later with mental health officers and a crisis negotiator. Several hours were spent trying to reason with the man, but when he started firing at officers behind the residence, a robot was used to enter the home. 

Police noticed through the robot that the inside of the home was ablaze. Officers were unable to convince the man to leave, as he continued to fire shots at them. When the home’s garage door opened, the man emerged with weapons on him. A SWAT officer fired at the man, who “went down with a gunshot wound.”

The man was removed from the home which was by then engulfed in flames. He was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The SWAT officer who shot the man will be placed on administrative duty until an investigation into the incident is completed.