A man who led officers on a car chase was fatally shot Thursday by North Little Rock police after he moved toward an officer with a knife he had used to stab a police dog 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 found the vehicle in the Dixie Addition area of the city and attempted a traffic stop and began the pursuit shortly after 10 a.m. when the driver would not pull over, department spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said.
The man 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 broke at least one window of the vehicle, at which point a police dog entered and was stabbed multiple times.
The man then got out of the vehicle, moved toward an officer while wielding a knife and was shot, Dedrick said. Authorities earlier indicated that the man ran from the vehicle after it crashed, but Dedrick said that was not the case.
Arkansas State Police troopers were called for assistance and sent a helicopter to the scene, agency spokesman Liz Chapman said. The agency was 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 dog stabbed during the incident was taken for veterinary care and is expected to recover.
Police also did not release the identity of the officer who shot the man.
That officer, who is on paid administrative leave, has been with the North Little Rock force for at least 10 years, Dedrick noted.
The state police will lead the investigation of the shooting.
Metro on 03/24/2017