Fort Worth police released Wednesday audio and video of officers responding to a call from a man who said he told 911 operators he was armed with a pistol and thinking about hurting someone.
Portions of the 911 call were played along with bodycam video from officers responding to that call in an edited video that included statements from Chief of Police Neil Noakes.
“I’m across the street,” the man told the 911 operator shortly after noon Tuesday. “I have a gun and I’m worried I’m going to go in and kill my parents.”
The man, later identified by police as 29-year-old Mitchell Robert Davis, urged police to come right away and his comments suggest he was having a mental health crisis.
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"I feel like I'm possessed,” Davis said. “And I'm going to hurt somebody. I have a gun in my pocket right now."
The 911 operator dispatched officers immediately and tried to keep Davis calm.
"OK, just stay on the phone with me,” the call taker said. “Just talk to me a little bit, OK?"
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As three officers arrived at the man’s location on Bear Creek Trail they can be heard yelling, "Keep your hands up! Keep your hands up!"
As officers approached him, he got on his knees and appeared to cooperate. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a pistol. The officers’ body camera footage clearly shows he aimed it at officers.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!" the officers said before at least one of them opened fire, killing the man.
The gun was a fake but looked just like the real thing, Noakes said, adding the department released the video to be transparent in an age when all police shootings are under scrutiny.
"This is a very tragic chain of events that ultimately ended in the loss of one life and affected many other lives, including the family of the individual, the officers involved, and the families of those officers,” Noakes said.
Noakes also said the video showed the split-second decisions officers sometimes have to make and the dangers of police work.
Police have not said how many of the three officers shot the man.
The case is under investigation and will be referred to a Tarrant County grand jury, police said.
