KEY POINTS

  • Denton police officer fatally shoots a man who refused to let go of his frying pan and cleaver
  • The man was banging on doors and destroying light fixtures
  • The police responded to a disturbance in an apartment complex early Tuesday
  • The police officers involved and the man are still unnamed

A police officer from Denton, Texas, fatally shot a man on Tuesday after the man refused to put down a frying pan and a cleaver that he was holding.

According to ABC News, officers responded to a 911 call just before 3 AM to an apartment complex in Denton where there was a report of a man banging on doors and shattering light fixtures in a hallway of a complex.

Fox News reported that the officers tried to use a Taser to apprehend the suspect but failed so an officer opened fire.

The man was shot and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

An officer was stabbed during the incident but authorities said that no life-threatening injuries were sustained.

Officials have not yet released the names of the officers involved in the incident or the name of the man who was killed, but they said that the officer who fired the shot had served for six years in the Denton Police Department.

police shooting
Saheed Vassell was the father of a teenage boy. Above is a representational image of police officers along with their firearms. Getty Images