UNT student fatally shot after he confronted Denton police, stabbed officer, officials say

Denton police shot and killed a man armed with a cleaver and frying pan after he confronted officers and stabbed one of them at an apartment complex Tuesday morning, police said.

The shooting happened around 3 a.m. in the 200 block of Inman Street, police said, after several apartment residents reported a man banging on doors and shattering light fixtures.

While officers were interviewing residents at the base of a stairwell, the man emerged from an apartment and came down the stairs toward the officers, police said.

The man ignored repeated loud commands to drop his weapons, leading one officer to use a stun gun, police said. He then fell but immediately got back up and started moving toward officers again, police said. An officer then fired his weapon, and the man fell down again.

He died later at a hospital, police said.

Authorities have not released the man’s name, but University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk said in a letter to students and staff that he was a UNT student.

“This tragedy cuts a young life short, and we are keeping his family, friends, and the officers involved in our hearts. We ask that our students, faculty, and staff support each other in expressing their grief,” Smatresk said in the letter.

After the shooting, police discovered that an officer had been stabbed during the confrontation. The officer, a first-year member of the department who has more than 10 years of experience, was hospitalized in stable condition, police said.

The officer’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Two roommates of the man who was shot said he had been behaving erratically lately.

“He wasn’t aggressive toward me,” Jeremy Taylor told the Denton Record-Chronicle. “He just seemed out of it.”

Another roommate, Kenton Nelson, said the man was a student at the University of North Texas and that his behavior changed about a week ago around the same time he was in a car crash.

“Up until last weekend, very coherent, real good guy,” Nelson told the Record-Chronicle. “He’d cook for you, come check on you, see if you need anything. Worked hard, worked two jobs and then … last weekend something occurred and changed all that.”

The officer who shot the man is a six-year veteran of the department, police said. Police did not release his name or the identity of the officer who was stabbed.

The Texas Rangers are investigating. The officer who fired his weapon will be placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation, police said.