GIDDINGS POLICE OFFICER ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER SHOOTING, KILLING STABBING SUSPECT

  

The Giddings Police Department has placed an officer on administrative leave after he shot and killed a man suspected of stabbing four people Monday morning.

According to a release from Giddings Police Chief Haril Walpole, the officer, identified only as a 34-year-old black male, currently holds the rank of sergeant and has been with the department for two years.  Walpole said the officer has over five years of law enforcement experience.

Police said the suspect, identified as a 43-year-old black male, first began the assaults south of the intersection of Independence Street and Highway 77, where he stabbed a 39-year-old woman multiple times outside her place of work.  He then ran north on Highway 77, stabbing a 62-year-old gas station clerk and a 49-year-old man sitting in his truck outside the gas station.  The suspect then stabbed a 55-year-old man near the intersection of North Waco and Independence Streets.

Officers located the subject while the assault was still in progress.  The first arriving officer exited his patrol vehicle, where he was then approached by the subject with knife in hand.  The officer gave multiple commands for him to drop his weapon, but he continued moving toward the retreating officer, who then stumbled backwards onto the ground.

Police say as the man continued to advance toward the officer, he then “fired his duty weapon, striking the subject three times”.  The man was pronounced dead at the scene.  The encounter was captured by the officer’s patrol car dash camera.

According to police, the victims in Monday’s attack appear to be random, and they are all expected to recover after being treated at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin.  There is no known motive for the attacks at this time.  Investigation is being led by the Texas Rangers.