A man was shot and killed by DeSoto police in Lancaster on Saturday afternoon after he refused to pull over and displayed a handgun at officers, DeSoto police said.
Two officers were involved in the shooting that started out as a report of shots fired in a DeSoto neighborhood. DeSoto Police Capt. Ron Smith says officers spotted the vehicle involved in that report and pursued him to the Spanish Trails Motel parking lot in Lancaster near Interstate-35E.
Witnesses say the officers told the man to put his hands up and then to drop a gun. They said shortly after that command they opened fire.
"A red truck pulls into the parking lot of the hotel, three Desoto cops behind him we heard them yelling 'put the gun down, put the gun down'," said Michael Polson. "I guess the guy, they must have seen a gun, all of a sudden they started shooting at him."
DeSoto Police have not revealed where the initial report of shots fired came from in the city, but say no one was injured and that it could be related to some kind of domestic disturbance.
Those residing in the motel say they're not scared to stay the night, but were a little unnerved about what happened.
"It's the first thing that's ever really happened [here]," Donna Meyer said. "The cops were just doing their job, I mean, they had to shoot because he had a gun. I don't want nobody getting killed, they got to protect themselves and they got to protect the people around here too."
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The Texas Rangers are now leading the investigation. Capt. Smith said that makes the investigation go smoother since this incident crossed jurisdictions from DeSoto to Lancaster.
The man killed has not yet been identified.
