The Fort Worth Police Department said video recordings support the actions of an officer who fatally shot a robbery suspect just before midnight Tuesday.
Police said two officers responded to a 911 call about a robbery at the Gas Pipe store in the 6000 block of Camp Bowie Boulevard at 11:47 p.m.
When the officers arrived, a female store employee exited the store and told them a man was inside robbing the store armed with a bat and screwdriver.
As the man exited the store the officers ordered him drop both the bat and screwdriver and to get on the ground. The man refused and instead charged at the two officers.
One the officers, identified Thursday as Eduardo Gasca, then fired a single shot at the man's chest.
Police said the officers performed CPR and other lifesaving efforts on the man while awaiting medical assistance. The man, whose name has not yet been released, was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.
A second employees was in the store with the woman, police said. He escaped and called 911. Both were unharmed.
The officers involved in this shooting were both wearing body cameras, and cameras were also mounted in their patrol vehicles. The police department said Thursday a review of all video perspectives clearly support the action taken by the officers.
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Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead said in a statement Thursday that the video recordings of the shooting and the incidents that led up to it, "reinforces our support for this technology to show exactly what the officer faced when making a life and death decision."
"Thankfully, they utilized their training, tactics, and excellent communication so they could stay safe and go home at the end of their shift," Halstead said.
Gasca was commissioned as a Fort Worth Police officer on Dec. 13, 2013 and was the treasurer in his academy graduating class.
He is assigned to West Division patrol and remains on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations, the department said.
