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Lake Worth police fatally shoot person who pointed a gun at officers, police say

At some point in the incident, police shot the person, who was reportedly armed, officials said.

FORT WORTH, Texas — This story was updated at 5:25 p.m. with details from a Lake Worth Police Department.

A Lake Worth police officer fatally shot a person after they allegedly pointed a gun at officers during a chase in Fort Worth early Friday, officials said.

No officers were injured in the incident.

Around 2 a.m. Friday, Lake Worth officers had tried to pull over a vehicle for driving without lights and speeding on Loop 820. The car was initially driving about 88 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone, according to Chief of Police J.T. Manoushagian.

When a Lake Worth officer started to follow the vehicle in an attempt to initiate a traffic stop, the vehicle turned off its lights.

"Now it was driving at a high rate of speed, completely black and on the interstate," Manoushagian said.

The officer later found the vehicle at a nearby exit and tried to initiate a traffic stop before it drove away.

The officers followed the car through Lake Worth, Lake Settlement and then Fort Worth, according to Manoushagian. At some point, a second Lake Worth officer joined the pursuit.

While this happened, Manoushagian said a neighboring police department let Lake Worth police know that the people in the vehicle should be considered "armed and dangerous" because the other department said its officers had "prior dealings" with this vehicle.

"At that point, the officers were on high alert," Manoushagian said.

When the vehicle tried to make a right-hand turn off Interstate 30 in Fort Worth, the driver hit a curb, blew the left front tire and caused the vehicle to start rolling.

The driver eventually decided to pull over, Manoushagian said.

Three men then got out of the car and started running as two Lake Worth police officers ran after them.

"Everybody bailed out," Manoushagian said. "Literally went all different directions."

The left rear passenger got out of the car with a firearm in his hand, according to Manoushagian. He then pointed it at one of the officers.

"The officer said out loud, 'Gun, gun, gun, he's got a gun,'" Manoushagian said.

One of the officers then shot the suspect with the gun. After he was shot, the officers when back to their police car, grabbed a trauma kit and both began performing CPR and other life-saving measures before MedStar arrived.

Only one officer shot at the suspect, Manoushagian said. It is unclear at this time how many shots were fired.

The man was eventually taken to a hospital, where he died. Police are waiting to reveal his identity until they can confirm all of his family has been notified.

"The situation that our officers encountered today is almost exactly the kinds of situations and conduct this individual had engaged in before with other police departments," Manoushagian said. "Not a unique set of behaviors at all."

The other two men that ran away, one being the driver, have not yet been found or identified. There is no description for them at this time.

No other guns were recovered in the car or seen in the video, Manoushagian said.

"We don't believe that there's a risk to the community posed by those individuals that ran, at this time," Manoushagian said.

There are multiple videos of this incident from different angles, according to Manoushagian.

"You can clearly see the gun," Manoushagian said. "I've reviewed the video myself, and it's very clear to see."

Both officers were wearing body cameras. There was also high-definition in-car cameras in both police cars. Manoushagian said he believes there will also be some nearby surveillance video from a high vantage point that will be able to show "the whole incident" in good quality.

"We're very confident that once it's all reviewed and presented in court that it will show a complete picture of what happened," Manoushagian said.

Video from the incident will not be released at this time.

Both officers have been placed on paid, administrative leave while an internal and criminal investigation take place.

Manoushagian said his department has asked the Fort Worth Police Department to take on the primary role in the criminal investigation.

A member of the Grand Prairie Police Department's major crime unit will also be working with Fort Worth Police during the investigation.

"We are a small department, and so we rely heavily on our partners to help us in situations like this where the demand exceeds our resources," Manoushagian said.

Manoushagian said he expects the officer that did not shoot the suspect to return to duty soon.

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