FORT WORTH, Texas — Police say a man who appeared to be holding a weapon with a mounted light system was actually holding a flashlight when he was shot and killed Saturday night by a SWAT officer outside a Fort Worth home.
The incident started as a domestic abuse call and escalated into a standoff with police Saturday night at a home in the 5700 block of 6th Avenue.
Responding officers said that when they arrived at the home, they came across Cody Wayne Seals, who they said "chambered a round and pointed a long rifle at responding officers." In a statement Monday, Fort Worth police said Seals' family also saw him point the rifle at officers.
A SWAT team was called in for backup when police said Seals went into the home and barricaded himself inside.
According to Fort Worth police, officers at the scene were informed that Seals "had received extensive military training with various weapons." They were also told that Seals was possibly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and had access to weapons.
In the statement released Monday, the police department said Seals exited the home as officers attempted to talk with him and that he went into "a shooting stance with both arms out in front of him while holding an illuminating object consistent with a weapon mounted lighting system."
"He turned toward an officer, still locked out in a shooting stance, pointing the object at an officer," Fort Worth police said. "Believing the officer or other officers were about to be fired upon, a SWAT officer responded with deadly force."
It was later discovered that Seal was holding a flashlight, police said.
The Fort Worth Police Department said the officer who fired the shot has been with the Fort Worth Police Department for 10 years. The officer has been placed on administrative leave as an investigation into the shooting is underway.