A man was dead and two Little Rock police officers were on administrative leave Thursday after that man reportedly approached police with a gun to his head during a confrontation early that morning, authorities said.
Chief Heath Helton did not say who fired the shots that killed the man, simply saying at a news briefing Thursday afternoon that shots were fired, the man died of his injuries and the incident warranted an internal investigation because an officer discharged a service weapon.
Questions were not permitted at the briefing. Neither the victim nor the officers were identified.
In addition to the internal investigation, a separate criminal investigation was underway, Helton said. A tweet from the department earlier Thursday stated that two officers were suspended.
The incident started as an "assist medical" call around 1:23 a.m. in the 2100 block of West 18th Street, with dispatchers telling officers on the way that there was a potentially suicidal person at the scene, Helton said.
On arrival, officers spoke with a woman who was bleeding from the mouth and told them that her boyfriend was inside and had weapons, Helton said. The door of the residence was open and officers saw a man through the window whom they tried to talk to, but he refused to respond.
Police told the man they were coming in and tried to speak with him and de-escalate the situation, Helton said, but the man came out of a bedroom with a gun pressed to his head.
That's when shots were fired, the chief said, and the man later died of his injuries in an area hospital despite officers trying to render medical aid on the scene.