JOSEPHINE, Texas (AP) — Authorities say police officers at a tiny North Texas town’s city hall shot a man who refused to put down his rifle.
A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said Thursday night that officers in the town of Josephine gave “verbal commands” to a person carrying a rifle and opened fire “in reaction to the perceived threat.”
The spokesman, Lt. Lonny Haschel, said in an emailed statement that the person carrying the rifle had been involved in an unspecified disturbance at city hall earlier in the week and returned just after 4 p.m. Thursday.
Haschel says the man carrying the rifle is in serious condition and the officers were not injured.
Josephine is a town of about 1,300 people located 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Dallas.