Parker County deputies kill man who charged at them firing rifle

A man is dead after authorities said he charged at Parker County sheriff’s deputies while firing a gun Friday night.

Sully Lanier, 36, kept calling 911 from a home in the 100 block of Couch Court, about 5 miles west of Azle, the Parker County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. He was “belligerently demanding to speak to deputies for unknown reasons and hanging up,” and he told dispatchers he had a gun, the release says.

When deputies arrived, dispatchers asked Lanier to leave the house with his hands up, but he threatened to kill “the first cop I see.” He kept speaking “incoherently and was verbally abusive” to dispatchers, according to the release.

At about 10:30 p.m., Lanier came out of the home and charged toward the deputies, ignoring orders to go to the ground, while firing an AR-15 rifle five times at them, the release says.

Deputies returned fire, shooting him in the neck, which the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office ruled to be the cause of death. Paramedics were called, but Lanier died at the scene.

The Texas Rangers will investigate the shooting, which Sheriff Larry Fowler called “a tragedy.”

Fowler said Lanier had previous encounters with authorities, including an incident when he stabbed himself in the leg.

“He was well known to law enforcement,” Fowler said.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Parker County deputies kill man who charged at them firing rifle."