Denton officer fatally shoots man who took woman hostage at knifepoint

A Denton police officer fatally shot a man who took a woman hostage early Saturday, authorities said.

The incident began about 1:30 a.m., when emergency dispatchers received a call from a man threatening suicide who said he was having “problems” with a woman, police said.

Police responded about five minutes later to an apartment complex in the 1600 block of McKinney Street, near South Woodrow Lane. They found the man holding the knife against the woman and restraining her by the neck, authorities said.

As officers negotiated with the man, he raised the knife in a stabbing motion “several times,” police said. An officer fired a round from his rifle, hitting the man in the torso.

The man fell to the ground with the knife still in his hand. Officers used a Taser to disarm him, police said.

The hostage-taker died at a hospital. Authorities have not released his identity.

The hostage was unharmed. Police did not say how she knew the man.

Police did not release the name of the officer who killed the man but said he has been with the department for three years. He has been placed on administrative leave while the Texas Rangers and Denton police investigate the shooting.

Police Chief Frank Dixon said at a news conference that his officers displayed “a tremendous amount of restraint and professionalism” during the incident but that shooting the man was ultimately necessary.

“Unfortunately, sometimes you have to take a life in order to save a life,” Dixon said.