OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City police say an officer fatally shot a man who threatened officers with a knife Friday.
Police Capt. Daniel Stewart said during a news conference that police encountered the man after getting a disturbance call from a business.
Stewart said the first officer to arrive on the scene backed away and called for “less lethal support” after the man came toward him with a knife.
Stewart said that after multiple attempts at dialogue and less lethal tactics, including deploying a stun gun and using pepper spray, the man advanced toward officers with the knife in hand.
“He ran at the officer, and he had a knife, and the officer was forced to discharge his weapon,” Stewart said.
Stewart said the man died at the scene.
Oklahoma Watch identified the man as Bennie Edwards, a Black man experiencing homelessness whose family said he suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Dozens of protestors gathered Friday afternoon at the scene, chanting “Black Lives Matter.”