‘My heart is broken,’ writes father of UNT student shot and killed by Denton police
A man who police say charged at officers in Denton as he held a frying pan and a cleaver and was shot to death by one of them was a solid student who had not previously been in trouble, his father wrote online.
“My heart is broken, but with time God will mend,” Kevin Tarver wrote Wednesday on Facebook. “Losing such a good kid to such a horrific ending I couldn’t imagine this would happen to me.”
Darius Tarver, 23, was a University of North Texas senior. He worked two jobs and was to graduate in May with a degree in criminal justice, his father wrote.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, which also conducts examinations of people who die in Denton County, had not as of Wednesday evening released the name of the person who died in the encounter at 201 Inman St.
A Denton police officer shot the man early Tuesday at an apartment complex that serves as off-campus housing for college students, the department said. Officers had tried twice to stun the man with a Taser, but that was ineffective, police said.
The man stabbed another officer in the shoulder during the encounter, police said. The injured officer was released from a hospital after treatment.
Darius Tarver’s roommates have said that his behavior had become erratic in the past week after he was in a car accident.
Early Tuesday, one of them woke and saw that Darius Tarver, who they called D.J., had barricaded a hallway in their apartment with furniture. He also had covered up windows with blankets and clothes, and unplugged light fixtures because he said he did not want there to be any light. Then he went outside the apartment and banged on doors and broke hallway lights.
Five officers were dispatched about 3 a.m. to the Forum at Denton Station apartments after police received multiple 911 calls.
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 6:56 PM.
