Keller PD: Officer Shot Shoplifting Suspect During Struggle

A police officer in Keller fatally shot a shoplifting suspect at a department store Thursday.

Officer Johnathon Hicks was called to the Kohl's in the 2000 block of South Main for a report of shoplifting.

Hicks was not working off-duty as security at the store.

Keller Police Chief Mark Hafner said a Kohl's employee detained the shoplifting suspect at the store. When Hicks arrived, the suspect began struggling with him and tried to get the his weapon, police said.

"He (the officer) feared for his life," Hafner said. "The suspect was grabbing for his weapon. He said he was going to kill him, and that is being corroborated right now by people who were shopping at the store."

Hafner said Hicks fired four shots at the 40-year-old suspect.

The man was not armed.

Kohl's employees were inside the store at the time of the shooting. None immediately able to answer questions about the shooting.

Hicks, a 10-year veteran of the Keller Police Department, is in the hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained to the chest.

The suspect, whose name was not released Thursday night, was transported by CareFlite to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he later died.

NBC 5's Greg Janda, Frank Heinz, Ken Kalthoff and Ellen Goldberg contributed to this report.

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