Police in Omaha, Nebraska, said that when an armed man brandished a gun at them on the street, officers in the city shot and killed him.
In a neighbourhood close to a retail centre in the southwest of the city, the shooting took place early on Sunday morning. Police said they arrived on the site in response to allegations of a man attempting suicide and found an armed guy in the street holding a revolver to his head.
After several minutes of unsuccessful attempts to get the man to put down his weapon, police shot him when he pointed it first at a passerby and then at them, according to officials.
The individual, eventually identified as Omaha resident Matthew Johnson, 27, passed away in a medical facility.
Johnson was shot and murdered at a time when law enforcement agencies throughout the nation are looking for innovative approaches to deal with persons who are mentally ill, who account for a sizable share of police fatalities.
The Omaha shooting is being looked at by detectives from the Douglas and Sarpy County sheriff’s departments. The officers who shot Johnson have not been identified by police.
