FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Fort Worth police shot and killed an 18-year-old black man after he pointed a handgun at pursuing officers, officials said Thursday.
Amari Malone was being sought as a “person of interest” in an August homicide in the North Texas city when officers found him around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus.
Malone ran from the officers, and the police department released snippets of body camera footage Thursday that appear to show him turning to aim a pistol at the police.
Four officers shot at Malone and he was hit once, Kraus said during a news conference. Malone was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Malone’s family, acknowledged he had a gun but said he was innocent of the Aug. 5 fatal shooting of Ja’Waylon Gay.
Merritt said Malone, whose son was born days earlier, was shot in the back. He said his office plans to conduct a close review of the body camera video to determine whether the officers were right to shoot.
Kraus declined to call Malone a suspect in Gay’s death but said he was seen at the crime scene with a pistol.
The names of the four officers who fired at Malone were not released. They have been placed on administrative leave. The shooting is being investigated by Fort Worth police’s major crimes and internal affairs unit.