Updated at 6:01 p.m. with additional information from Garland police.
A convenience store clerk who was held at knifepoint early Monday morning is unharmed and a suspect is hospitalized in critical condition after Garland police responded to an aggravated robbery call.
The suspect, 26-year-old Avery Norman, was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.
At about 9:15 a.m., a 911 caller reported that an aggravated robbery was in progress at a convenience store in the 100 block of East Buckingham Road. The caller stated there was a man in the store behind the counter with the clerk, holding a knife, police said in a news release.
When officers arrived at the store, police say the man told them "Kill me or I'm going to kill this man" and made a quick movement to the floor.
The officers saw the suspect on the ground holding the clerk around his head and wrapping his legs around the clerk while lying on the ground, police said. The suspect held a knife in his right hand near the clerk's chest and neck, police said.
The suspect said multiple times, "Kill me or I'm gonna kill this man," police said.
Officers were pleading with the suspect to drop the knife or let the clerk go and the suspect refused. The suspect asked officers for their gun so that he could kill himself, police said.
Officers tried to negotiate and de-escalate the situation with the suspect for 15 minutes, police said.
"The suspect stated that he was not going to release the clerk because the officers would not shoot him if he let the clerk go," police said.
The suspect stood up, forcing the clerk to his feet while holding the clerk around the neck with his left arm and holding a knife in his right hand up to the clerk.
The suspect lowered the knife toward the body of the clerk and an officer discharged his weapon, striking the suspect, police said.
The clerk was able to escape unharmed.
Garland paramedics transported the suspect to a hospital where he remained in critical condition.
