PORT ARTHUR — Port Arthur Police are investigating after an officer-involved shooting in the 1600 block of Kansas Avenue near Rev. Raymond Scott Avenue on Friday afternoon. The officer attempted to stop and detain a man walking in the roadway and carrying a large weapon according to a Port Arthur Police Department news release.
The officer told the man multiple times to drop his weapon before he opened fire, Port Arthur Police spokesperson Matt Bulls said in a news release. The officer fired several rounds from his service weapon, shooting the man according to the release. A Justice of the Peace pronounced the suspect dead at the scene.
The family of the man shot told 12News he was 35-year-old Shayne Lyons. The officer is okay, Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso told 12News.
A source told 12News the weapon may have been a machete.
In a Port Arthur police press conference on Monday, District Attorney Bob Wortham said the pack of cigarettes taken from the man's pocket was sent to a lab and tested positive for PCP.
Officers and crime scene tape surrounded a boarded-up corner store shortly after the incident as police continued processing the scene.
Officers have spent hours processing the scene and talking to witnesses. They said independent witnesses have backed the officer's account of what happened.
Police Chief Tim Duriso was expected to give a news conference the evening of Dec. 28, but he later canceled it. A news conference was held on Monday afternoon. His department is working with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office regarding to determine what happens next.
The incident is still under investigation by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and the Port Arthur Police Department Criminal Investigation Division.
