Fort Worth officer shoots, critically injures man pointing gun in hotel, police say
A Fort Worth police officer on Tuesday shot a man who pointed a gun at the officer in a hotel room, the police department said.
The man was taken in critical condition to a hospital, a MedStar spokesman said.
The officer shot the man at the Express Inn hotel in the 8400 block of the West Freeway service road after police were called there about 2 pm. because the man reportedly was suicidal.
The police department’s mental health crisis intervention team, whose officers are trained in interacting with people who are dealing with mental illness problems, responded to the hotel.
“When officers entered the hotel room they were immediately confronted by a subject who was holding a firearm in his hand,” the department wrote in a statement.
The man pointed the gun at one of the officers, who shot him, police said.
Officers provided first aid. MedStar took the man to a hospital.
The man is white, a police spokesman said. Police did not release his name or age. The department did not immediately release the officer’s sex or race.
The department’s major case and internal affairs units were investigating.
It was the first time a Fort Worth police officer has shot a person since Oct. 12, when an officer shot to death Atatiana Jefferson, 28. She had been babysitting her 8-year-old nephew at her mother’s house in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue when she heard noises outside. A neighbor had called the police because he became worried after seeing the doors of the home open.
Thinking there was a prowler in the yard, Jefferson grabbed her gun, looked out of a bedroom window as she held it and was shot by a police officer seconds later, according to an arrest warrant filed in the case.
Jefferson, who was Black, was shot by Aaron Dean, a white police officer who resigned and was indicted on a murder charge.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 5:37 PM.
