Texas Man Shot by Police After Allegedly Holding Woman Hostage

Texas authorities are investigating a police-involved shooting that left a knife-wielding man dead.

According to the Associated Press, the incident occurred early Saturday in Denton, Texas, about 40 miles north of Dallas. Law enforcement say they received a call at around 1:30 a.m. from a man threatened to kill himself because of “problems” with a woman.

Officers arrived at the scene just minutes later and encountered a white male gripping a woman’s neck and holding a knife up to her body. Police say they tried to deescalate the situation, but the suspect refused to let the woman go. After the man made several threatening motions toward the hostage, an officer opened fire and wounded the suspect in the torso.

“The hostage-taker would raise the knife up to the female, almost in a stabbing motion, several times,” Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon said. “At one point, as the knife was being raised, we had one officer fire one round from his patrol rifle striking the subject in his upper torso.”

The suspect reportedly fell to the ground and the hostage was taken to a safe location. According to police, the man was still holding the knife after he was shot. Officers then used a Taser to disarm the man, who was then transported to a hospital. The hostage-taker, who has not been publicly identified, died at the facility shortly after.

The woman was reportedly uninjured. Her relationship with the suspect remains unclear.

According to the AP, the officer who fired his weapon at the suspect is a three-year veteran of the Denton PD. The officer has since been placed on administrative leave while the Texas Rangers conduct an internal investigation.