Fort Worth Police Shoot Man Armed With BBQ Fork
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A man has been taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after he was shot by a Fort Worth police officer. According to officials, the unidentified man was wielding an 11-inch BBQ fork and refused to drop it, even though officers ordered him to put it down several times.
A homeowner called police around 3:30 a.m. to report the man was pounding on his neighbor's door with a knife. When investigators arrived, they found him standing in the street with a BBQ fork.
"The officer arrives on scene, sees someone in the street carrying a large 11-inch weapon, a knife, what appears to be knife and he's not following commands. It's terrifying. I mean for an officer, for [a] citizen, for anyone," said Fort Worth Police Sergeant Steve Enright.
Police shot the man once in the arm when he refused to drop the fork. He is expected to be okay.
The officer, whose name has not been released but has been with the department for two years, did have a body camera, but he didn't have enough time to turn it on. Police say the dashboard camera in his squad car captured the entire incident.
The officer is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
CBS 11's Arezow Doost tried to talk to talk to the suspect's family, but they did not want to comment -- neither did the neighbors who called 911.
Neighbor Shelia Washington said the situation could have turned out much worse. "I'm thankful to God that we are not talking about a dead person."
During the investigation, officers shutdown New York Avenue, between Magnolia and East Murphy, but the street has since reopened.
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