Emotionally Distressed Man Armed With Knife Shot After Charging At Houston Officer

A man in Houston who was seeking medical help was shot by a police officer after the former reportedly came at him with a knife in hand. The unidentified male wanted to check himself at the Ben Taub Hospital on Monday because he was dealing with psychological distress.

According to ABC 13, the incident happened around 1:30 a.m. The man exited a stairwell, climbed on his truck and started cutting himself on the arm and the neck before returning to the stairwell.

It was an unarmed security personnel at the hospital who found the pool of blood by the man’s truck and immediately called for assistance. A Houston Police Department officer and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrived to respond to the call and were both in uniform. Both introduced themselves as officers and started to look for the suspect.

The man was found about 15 minutes later after which the man reportedly started to walk at the officer with a knife in hand. Seeing this, the officer drew his pistol and told the man to stop and drop the knife. Rather than oblige, the man ran towards the officer who fired two shots at him.

The man fell to the ground after getting shot but managed to get back up. He raced to the officer’s truck and tried to get away. Unfortunately, he was unable to figure out how to put the vehicle on drive.

From there, the officer and the trooper managed to apprehend the man. They got him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs. He was immediately wheeled inside the hospital for surgery.

It was only after the incident when the officer found out that the man was trying to check himself into the hospital. However, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said that when an individual is coming at you and starts charging at you, starts running at you with a knife, regardless of their mental state you still have a right to defend yourself under state law and the Constitution.

It was an unfortunate incident with the case now under investigation. In the meantime, the officer who shot the man dealing with emotional distress has been placed on limited duty, Fox News reported. The trooper has 25 years on the job.