Texas Homeowner Fatally Shot By Police Following Standoff Over Unmowed Lawn

A young man mowing the grass on a property, tending the garden, using a petrol lawnmower.

Photo: Getty Images

A Texas man was shot and killed by police following an hours-long standoff over his unmowed lawn. The incident began on Wednesday (October 27) morning when officers with the Austin Police Department attempted to serve a nuisance warrant to the homeowner. The man refused to answer the door, and the officers left the warrant at his doorstep.

A little while later, contractors arrived and began cutting the man's lawn. While they were working, the man started shooting at them from inside his home.

"They attempted to cut the lawn for him, and this is the reaction they got," Austin Police spokesperson Jose Mendez said.

The workers took cover while the SWAT team was called in.

"They immediately backed off. They got all of the staff that was working on the house to safety, and a SWAT call was initiated for a barricaded subject," Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said.

Negotiators spent hours trying to convince the man to come outside and surrender, but he refused. Around 3 p.m., the man opened fire on the officers, forcing them to take cover. They sent a robot into the home and found that a fire had been started inside. As the flames quickly engulfed the house, the man exited from his garage holding guns.

A SWAT officer shot the man, and he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Chacon said that no officers were hurt and that one of the contractors suffered a minor shoulder injury while he was taking cover from the gunfire.


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