A Machete-Wielding Man is Allegedly Fatally Shot by a Progreso, Texas, Police Officer
On December 24, 2017, at about 9:24 p.m., the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office in Texas was asked by the Progreso Police Department to respond to a home in Progreso. When sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, they discovered that a police-involved shooting with a Progreso police officer had allegedly already occurred.
According to witnesses at the scene, Progreso police officers were called to the Encino Street address because of a disturbance involving a man carrying a machete. Officers went to investigate. When they arrived, one police officer and the male suspect made physical contact and struggled. The police officer fired his service weapon during the struggle, and the man who had been holding a machete died at the scene. According to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, the police officer involved in the alleged fatal shooting incident suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital to receive treatment. No further details about the fatal incident have been released.
The Texas Rangers will investigate the alleged police shooting. One of the issues to be determined is whether or not the deadly force used was reasonably necessary. In Texas, police officers have a right to use whatever force is necessary when they feel that they or others are in immediate danger. Another way to put it is that if they fear for their lives, using whatever force is available is allowed by law.
There was no mention of whether or not a body cam was on any of the police officers at the scene, to provide insight into exactly what happened.
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