Suicide by cop in our town: Just life in the city?

This is a heck of a way to end the week.

A man was shot and killed by police here in Beaumont (Texas) this morning after what appears to be some form of “suicide by cop.” Lee Adam Dixon, 37, of Beaumont, was shot multiple times by police after he began firing at officers following a standoff, according to a Beaumont Police Department press release.

Officers responded to a call of a “suspicious person” shortly before 8 a.m. in the 1500 block of Elgie Street in the South Park section of Beaumont. Dixon was sitting, dressed in all black, at the end of a cul-de-sac with his hands in the pocket of a heavy jacket. The temperature this morning was in the 50s. It certainly wasn’t cold enough for a heavy jacket.

Beaumont police shot and killed Lee Adam Dixon, 37, after a stand-off in which he said "I'm going to die today!"

 “He was asked to remove his hands from his pocket but he refused to comply, said the release, posted by Beaumont PD Sgt. Rob Flores. “Because of the subject’s failure to comply with the officer’s instructions, they feared that he was armed.  They continued to tell him to remove his hands from his pocket but he refused.  The man then stood up and began to walk away.

“As Officers followed, the man pulled a revolver from his pocket.  Officers attempted to contain the subject who continued to walk away as he was heard saying, “I’m going to die today!”  Officers followed the subject who continued to walk away with the gun now back in his pocket.  The man walked two blocks west and north of his original location and ended up in front of a residence located in the 1700 block of Harriot Street.  Officers were able to contain the man at that location and Crisis Negotiators were on scene to attempt to persuade him to surrender peacefully.”

Unfortunately, that peaceful ending didn’t happen. Negotiators talked to Dixon over a patrol car loudspeaker, but the man only mumbled unintelligibly, said police. At one point Dixon got down on his hands and knees and began walking back and forth on them in the yard, his hands remaining in his pockets. Dixon then pulled the gun from his pocket and began shooting multiple rounds at the officer. That is when police officers fatally shot Dixon.

“The officers, fearing for their lives as well as the lives of innocent neighbors in adjoining houses, had no alternative but to return fire,” said the statement posted by Flores.

After the scene was deemed safe, paramedics began treating Dixon at the scene although he was pronounced dead on arrival at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital emergency room.

It is hard to know all the specifics from the press release, as well-written and informative as it was. For instance, was there any opportunity for the officers to use non-lethal force such as Tasers? It must be a very difficult call to make, however. Once someone aims and begins shooting at the police things are pretty much over. You might realize the guy has a revolver and has only so many rounds in the gun. But then does he have a speed-loader or an automatic or even a hand grenade in the other pocket?

Once again, this is the kind of incident most of us don’t think much of if it happens in the really large cities. But, thankfully, it doesn’t happen all that often in this city of about 115,000.

Right now we seem to have a couple of armed robberies — both of businesses and individuals — every day. It’s just life in the big city, right? Yeah, in the big city, not here.

Yes, I will bitch about things the police do when they are wrong. But I have to give them the benefit of the doubt here. I have covered incidents such as this as a reporter. Fortunately, each time the cops used extreme restraint just as they appeared to do here. But sometimes there is nothing someone can do when an individual wants to die.

Go Texans.

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