ABILENE, TX. (THECOUNT) — An airman from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas fatally shot himself following a police-involved confrontation Saturday, according to Sunday morning reports.
Abilene police officers found the despondent airman, who was not identified, at a home on the city’s south side early Saturday.
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Officials at the nearby base arrived at the residence on reports the airman was harming himself, Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge said at a news conference.
After officers knocked on the door, the airman stepped out of the house with a rifle and handgun, Standridge said. The airman repeatedly pointed the rifle at the officers, who had formed a perimeter around the home, and was shot by a SWAT supervisor as he appeared to take aim at police. The airman then crawled into some bushes where he fatally shot himself, the chief said.
The airman was pronounced dead at the scene, reports NWAonline.
Standridge said the airman may have been motivated by the fallout from an October car crash. The airman had “despondency issues” because he was being investigated for drunken driving, the chief said.
The Texas Rangers and the Air Force base’s special investigations unit is looking into the shooting.
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Geo quick facts: Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in Texas, United States. The population was 117,463 at the 2010 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2017 estimated population of 170,219 – Wikipedia.