More than 25 marked and unmarked Odessa Police Department patrol units converged at the Rock Hill Shopping Center to investigate an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of an armed man Thursday afternoon.
An OPD press release detailed officers responded to an armed subject at 3:36 p.m. Thursday at the Ace Check Express located at 1305 E. Eighth Street.
When officers arrived, police say they saw the armed man, who then evaded officers in a vehicle. The man drove around the commercial complex, eventually went back to Ace Check Express and entered the business with a firearm.
The man fired his weapon inside the business, the press release detailed. As an officer rushed toward the business, the man fired. The officer returned fire and the man was later pronounced dead by medical personnel.
The officer involved in the shooting is without injury and placed on administrative leave pending further investigation. The investigation has been turned over to the Texas Rangers.
A bystander who said he was getting a haircut at the Supercuts located two shops down from the Ace Check Express in the shopping center said he heard one gunshot and then ran to the back of the hair salon.