A Texas police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a man who charged at him with a knife. The body cam footage of the incident can be seen above.

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Texas Police Shooting

According to a Denton Police Department press release, Officer John Landolfo and his trainee, Officer Je’Ni Nelson, were parked in their patrol vehicle on Feb. 19 when a man walked up from the back and started yelling at them. The officers got out of the vehicle and started to approach the man, who pulled out a knife. He then threatened them with the knife and started to walk toward a wooded area.

Both officers followed the suspect, ordering him multiple times to stop and drop the knife. The man ignored their commands. Instead, he disappeared further into the wooded area.

Landolfo’s body cam footage shows him chase after the man. Suddenly the man comes out of the woods and starts wildly swinging the knife. Landolfo fires his Taser X2 to stop the man from advancing. The man falls to the ground, but he quickly gets back up. Landolfo deploys the Taser again, but it has no effect.

Escalation

The man continues to aggressively approach the officers while swinging the knife. That’s when Landolfo drops his Taser and pulls his duty gun. He fires two rounds, hitting the man in the face and chest.

Aftermath

Paramedics were called immediately after the shooting. In addition, the officers attempted first aid using a medical kit given to them by the first backup officer to arrive. Despite this, the suspect, identified as 46-year-old Lawrence Shaw, died at the scene.

The shooting was investigated by the Denton Police Department and the Texas Rangers. In addition, it was reviewed by a Denton County grand jury. All three groups determined that Landolfo, a seven-year veteran of the DPD, was justified in pulling the trigger.