South Bend police fatally shot a man in the East Race neighborhood Tuesday morning.
Police say the 69-year-old man had a knife and that one cop tried to use his Taser to stop the man before another officer shot and killed him.
The details of the incident are not fully clear as of Tuesday afternoon, but scanner traffic indicates a city employee called 911 around 6:40 a.m. after seeing a man pull out a knife and stab a city vehicle.
The first sighting of the man was around the intersection of Niles and Colfax Avenues.
The St. Joseph County Police Department is investigating the shooting along with Mishawaka police. In a press release, investigators say the man still had the knife when South Bend officers encountered him over 15 minutes later in a parking lot near the intersection of Niles and LaSalle Avenue across from the Lauber restaurant.
Police say one South Bend officer “unsuccessfully deployed his taser” to stop the man. Then "a short time later", another officer shot the man, who died in the hospital shortly after.
The release issued Tuesday does not provide any more details about how the man acted in his encounter with the officers or what was said or done prior and up to the shooting.
Officials have not released the man’s name, saying only that he was a 69-year-old male who was white. An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday. St. Joseph County police say investigators are interviewing witnesses to the shooting and reviewing body camera footage of the incident.
The investigation will be sent to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office who will determine if any criminal charges will be filed.
