Keller Shoplifting Call Leads To Officer-Involved Shooting
KELLER (CBSDFW.COM) - A shoplifting call at a Kohl's department store in Keller ends with the shoplifter being airlifted to a Fort Worth hospital before dying on the operating table.
The shoplifter, described only as a 40-year-old man, had been detained by a loss prevention security guard trying to leave the Kohl's on Highway 377 and North Tarrant Parkway when police arrived.
LISTEN: Keller Police radio transmissions
After struggling with one of the responding officers, the suspect reportedly tried to grab the officer's weapon.
"The suspect began to struggle with the officer, trying to gain the officer's weapon from him, threatening that officer that he was going to kill him," said Keller police chief Mark Hafner.
The officer, identified as Jonathan Hicks, told superiors on scene he feared for his life and shot the suspect, discharging his weapon 4 times. The suspect was taken by air ambulance to JPS Hospital in Fort Worth.
Hicks, a 10-year veteran of the department, was taken to a local hospital with minor chest injuries due to the struggle. None of the officers involved in the incident were hurt.
Chief Hafner said Hicks was 'shaken up' by the incident.
The Kohl's store had no comment on the matter.
This is the third police related shooting to occur in North Texas over the past 24-hours. One took place earlier Thursday afternoon in North Fort Worth, near the Kohl's scene, and overnight an incident in Lewisville left the suspect dead.
Also Check Out:
