El Paso gunman shot, killed by police after threatening I-10 motorists is identified
UPDATE, Jan. 27: El Paso police identified a 27-year-old truck driver as the man who was shot and killed by officers after threatening a mass shooting along I-10 earlier this month.
Police confronted Jean Paul Stanely back on Jan. 15 in a west El Paso neighborhood where they said he was armed with a rifle.
According to a custodial death report filed with the state Attorney General's Office, police said Stanley ignored verbal commands to put the rifle down and instead pointed it towards two officers.
The report said the officers, fearing for their lives, both fired at Stanley and then called for medical help after he was hit; the man died at the scene.
Investigators indicated Stanley, a 2012 Franklin High School graduate, was listed in a police database as having bipolar and depression disorder.
ORIGINAL REPORT, Jan. 15: EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A gunman who police said opened fire with a rifle after threatening to shoot freeway motorists was shot dead during a confrontation with a pair of officers Friday morning, authorities indicated.
The incident unfolded just before 9 a.m. in 7900 block of Thunderstorm Drive, which is near Brown Middle School in a west El Paso neighborhood.
A police spokesman said the man had threatened to shoot drivers on Interstate 10, but it was unknown if any of the shots fired by him were actually directed at vehicles on the highway.
After two officers responded and engaged the man, officials said the incident turned into an "officer-involved" shooting. However, authorities said it wasn't immediately clear whether the man - described as suicidal - was killed by police gunfire or died as a result of a self-inflicted wound.
Police said no officers were injured in the incident.
The spokesman said the area would likely remain closed off for the remainder of the day as police continued their investigation.
It was the first of two officer-involved shootings on Friday; the other occurred about two hours later when police wounded a man they were trying to arrest on an outstanding warrant.
According to a database maintained by the Texas Attorney General's Office, the El Paso Police Department reported a total of four officer-involved shootings last year.
