Officials: Man shot, killed by North Little Rock police after moving toward officer with knife

A man was fatally shot Thursday by North Little Rock police after he started moving toward an officer with a knife he had used to stab a K-9 twice in the face, authorities said.

The North Little Rock Police Department said it received a call Thursday morning that a man was involved in a disturbance with a woman in Jacksonville, then fled the scene in a vehicle.

Officers located the vehicle in the Dixie Addition area of the city, attempted to initiate a traffic stop and started a pursuit shortly after 10 a.m. when the driver would not pull over, North Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said.

The man later traveled on U.S. 270 to the Grant and Jefferson county line, where the vehicle crashed into a guardrail shortly before 11 a.m., according to authorities.

Dedrick said an officer busted out at least one window of the man’s vehicle, at which point a K-9 entered and was stabbed multiple times.

The man later got out of the vehicle, started moving toward an officer while wielding a knife and was shot, Dedrick said. Authorities earlier indicated the man ran from the vehicle after it crashed, but Dedrick said that was not the case.

State police were called in for assistance and sent a helicopter to the scene, agency spokeswoman Trooper Liz Chapman said. They were then alerted by North Little Rock police that there was an officer-involved shooting, she said.

Dedrick said the man who was shot, whose identity was not released Thursday afternoon, was flown to a Little Rock hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 12:30 p.m.

He was described by authorities as a black man in his late 30s or early 40s.

The K-9 stabbed during the officer-involved shooting was taken to an area veterinarian for treatment and is expected to be fine.

Police also did not release the identity of the officer responsible for fatally shooting the man.

That law enforcement official, who is on paid administrative leave, has been with North Little Rock police for at least 10 years, Dedrick noted.

Dedrick directed additional questions regarding the shooting to the Arkansas State Police, the lead agency working the case.

Check back with Arkansas Online for updates as this developing story and read Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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