Driver dead after Arlington police officer shoots man who was driving toward officer
An Arlington police officer fatally shot a man Wednesday afternoon after police said he drove his vehicle toward an officer on foot.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified the man Thursday as Jesse Fischer, 40, of Addison. Arlington police did not release the name of the officer who shot the driver, but said he has been with the department for seven years.
At around 2:28 p.m., two officers responded to a call of an SUV stopped in the middle of the roadway along Pioneer Parkway near Daniel Drive, Sgt. Chris Moore said. One of the officers instructed the driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, to stay where he was but he continued to drive.
Moore said the driver stopped briefly near the intersection of Daniel Drive and Arkansas Lane, where police informed him he was under arrest for evading and advised him to turn off the vehicle. The driver did not comply and drove away, according to police.
The officers went into a low speed chase with the driver until he entered Carla Court, a cul de sac near South Collins Street, police said. Police stopped at the entrance of the cul de sac when the driver made a U-turn and drove at one of the officers who had gotten out of his vehicle.
Moore said only one officer fired multiple times, and two officers are on administrative leave because of the incident. Neither of the officers are injured from the incident.
Police performed life-saving measures on the driver until paramedics arrived to transport him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries, Moore said.
CBS-DFW reported that the Combined Law Enforcement Association said the driver was suspected of DWI.
James Doherty, who lives near the house where the incident happened, said he saw law enforcement respond and give the man CPR for about 10 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
“He wasn’t moving,” Doherty said.
Investigators blocked off the intersection of Carla Court and Concord Drive on Wednesday evening with crime scene tape, inspecting a white Jeep Liberty.
The name of the driver was not released during the press conference Wednesday evening. Moore said the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the deceased once next of kin have been notified.
Arlington police also said the department plans on releasing the officer’s body and dashboard video footage publicly “once the investigators working both the criminal and administrative cases have had an opportunity to review it – and we’ve given the family of the driver an opportunity to view it.”
Moore said two separate investigations are underway in relation to the incident — a criminal investigation to determine whether any criminal offenses were committed and an administrative investigation to determine whether department policies were followed.
