A domestic violence call led to an officer-involved shooting Wednesday morning in Denton.
Police were called to Pace's Crossing Apartments near 35E and Loop 288 after 2 a.m. Wednesday on a domestic violence call. They say someone heard gunshots coming from an apartment "and the potential of a woman being hit."
"About 45 minutes after that, he subsequently heard some other loud bangs inside the apartment, which led him to believe those were either subsequent gunshots or, potentially, a woman being thrown across the room or against the wall," says Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon.
Dixon says that tenant called police after hearing that second round of noise. Dixon says the first officer to arrive also heard gunshots.
"He held the ground where he was. He did not approach the apartment and called for additional units," Dixon says. "As the second and third officers got on scene, they made a plan to go up and try to make contact with the suspect inside."
Dixon says the suspect came outside the apartment, pointed a gun at officers and went back inside. He says "a couple seconds later," the suspect came back out holding a gun and the woman.
He says the suspect then went back inside the apartment.
"The officers don't force the issue. They don't press to go inside," Dixon says. "They were being prompted by the male throughout the ordeal to make entry into the apartment, which they do not do."
Dixon says the suspect then opened the door to the apartment "very quickly," still holding the woman and the gun in his hand. He says officers backed up and told the suspect to drop the gun.
"At some point in that exchange, the male discharged his firearm toward our officers," Dixon says. "We subsequently had two officers return fire, striking the suspect two times."
The suspect is now in the hospital and expected to survive.
The woman being held hostage was not hurt; no officers were injured or hit by gunfire.
"The potential for violence with officers responding to domestic violence calls are always high up there. They're very fluid, very tense, very emotionally-wrapped calls for service," Dixon says.
Dixon says Texas Rangers are leading the investigation and will work with the Denton County District Attorney to determine what charges will be filed.
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