TERRELL, Texas — A Terrell Police Department captain was involved in a shooting incident in the Tanger Outlet Center parking lot on Thursday afternoon with a man described as a “mental patient” who had been missing from Savannah, Georgia, since Monday. The man, identified as 25-year-old Joseph Buckley, later died at a Dallas-area hospital due to a self-infliucted gunshot wound, according to police.
TERRELL, Texas — A Terrell Police Department captain was involved in a shooting incident in the Tanger Outlet Center parking lot on Thursday afternoon with a man described as a “mental patient” who had been missing from Savannah, Georgia, since Monday. The man, identified as 25-year-old Joseph Buckley, later died at a Dallas-area hospital due to a self-infliucted gunshot wound, according to police.
The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, which issued the missing persons bulletin for Buckley, notified Buckley's next of kin in Savannah, Georgia, and confirmed his death. Buckley was described as a "mental patient" who posed a possible threat to himself and others.
Terrell Police Department Chief Jody Lay says at approximately 1:15 p.m., the department received a 911 call about a suspicious person in the Applebees parking lot located at 341 Tanger Drive in Terrell, Texas, within the area of the Tanger Outlet Center. The 911 caller described the person as "contorted in a downcast manner."
Lay says Terrell Police Department Captain A.D. Sansom and another Terrell Police Department captain were in the area for lunch when the 911 was aired.
Sansom and the other captain observed a subject in a vehicle, both of which matched the description given by the 911 caller, backing into a handicapped parking space in front of Rue 21 at the Tanger Outlet Center.
As Sansom, who was uniformed at the time, approached the vehicle, a gunshot rang out inside the vehicle and the subject pointed a gun in the direction of Sansom, according to Lay. Sansom “fired a single self-defense shot at the man and then moved back to cover.”
"During the field forensic investigation after the incident, Texas Rangers and Terrell Police tentatively verified the round fired from the police officer's sidearm never struck Mr. Buckley, as it was located lodged in the steel door frame on the exterior of the car in a trajectory that missed the body entirely," Lay said in an updated release on Friday just before noon.
The man, who later identified as Buckley, suffered at least one gunshot wound to the center of his chest and was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, in serious condition, according to Lay. Its unknown if the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or inflicted by the officer.
Buckley succumbed to his injuries while at the hospital on Thursday afternoon.
“No police officers or third parties were injured as a result of the incident,” stated Lay.
The Texas Rangers and the Terrell Police Department Criminal Investigations Division are investigating the shooting.
“In conjunction with this incident, the authorities are also investigating a Missing Person Endangered reported out of the State of Georgia, with caution indicated, as he is said to be armed, dangerous, with violent tendencies and suicidal,” stated Lay on Thursday.
“Captain A.D. Sansom will be placed on routine administrative leave, as is standard procedure for these incidents,” stated Lay.
"The men and women of the Terrell Police Department would like to express their deepest sympathies to the family of Mr. Buckley as they cope with the loss," stated Lay.
This is a developing story.