By Nicole Lopez
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
ARLINGTON, Texas — A man who was shot and killed by a police officer last week had a knife, failed to comply with orders and advanced toward officers with the weapon, according to portions of body-camera video released by Arlington police in a news conference Thursday.
Michael Bassey, 31, was fatally shot by an Arlington officer on April 25 after he came out of an apartment with the knife.
Police were dispatched to the apartment in the 2700 block of Lawrence Road after a 911 caller, later identified to be Bassey, reported that he stabbed and killed someone.
In the 911 call audio released by police Thursday, Bassey told the dispatcher that he had a knife in his hand and that he was “going to kill him.”
After the dispatcher asked him who he was going to kill, Bassey responded with, “You know what to do,” and ended the call shortly after.
Click below to see full video.
Bassey called 911 a second time and asked the dispatcher, “What is the response time?” The dispatcher asked if he was reporting an accident and he said, “It was not an accident.”
“No. I did kill him,” Bassey is heard saying in the call. After the dispatcher asked what he did, Bassey replied with, ”I killed Michael,” and provided the address of the apartment complex.
He did not specify who he was referring to when he said he “killed Michael.”
The dispatcher is heard asking Bassey what was going on at the apartment, to which he says, “He was talking too much.”
When the dispatcher asked for the caller’s name, he responded with “Michelangelo.” He then told the call taker, “Michael is talking too much about Michael,” and said that he took a knife from the kitchen and he “stabbed him.”
Officers arrived at the complex a few minutes later and found Bassey looking out of a window from an apartment, according to police.
In bodycam footage from cameras worn by two officers, the officers are heard announcing their presence, ordering Bassey to come out the apartment and put his hands up in the air. He was also ordered to put down the knife he was carrying down. Police said Bassey did not comply with those orders.
Bassey is then seen in the video running with the knife in his hand in the direction of an officer and falling to the ground after the officer fired his gun one time. Officers chased after Bassey, who fled on foot, as they continued ordering him to drop the knife.
Officers found Bassey in a wooded area next to the apartment complex, the video shows. He advanced toward officers again with the knife in his hand and the officer who fired his weapon shot at Bassey a second time, according to the footage.
The video shows Bassey continued running until he fell to the ground on a field between the apartments and the wooded area. He was ordered to drop the knife again as he was getting up with the weapon, according to police, before he was tasered by a second officer.
The officers removed the knife from the suspect’s hand and discovered he had a gunshot wound as they were placing him in handcuffs, according to police.
Officers began attempting life-saving measures on Bassey until paramedics arrived. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
No officers were injured.
Investigators say two other officers deployed a Taser and a 40 mm “less lethal” round — in addition to the first officer who shot Bassey and the second officer who used his Taser — but neither made contact with Bassey.
Additional officers checked the apartment for any victims with stab wounds, but did not find anyone. Officers also checked emergency rooms at local hospitals, but there were no patients with reported stab wounds, police say.
Investigators do not believe that Bassey stabbed anyone despite what he reported to 911, Police Chief Al Jones said at the news conference.
The officer who fired his weapon has been placed on administrative leave while the Police Department conducts criminal and administrative investigations. The officer has been with the department for five years, according to Jones.
“The power to use deadly force is not something that Arlington Police Department takes lightly,” Jones said.
When asked by a reporter how officers respond to 911 calls, Jones said police rarely know what they are “walking into” as they are only given information received by dispatch.
“We have to try to make the best determination that we can when we’re on the scene,” said Jones. “In this unfortunate situation, you know, when our officers got to the scene, they just had the limited information that was given to dispatch. They did their best to deescalate the situation.”
As he has after previous shootings involving police, Jones continues to ask residents to comply with officers’ orders, especially in “deadly-force situations.”
“If Mr. Bassey would’ve complied with our orders, we would’ve had a better outcome,” Jones said.
Police are investigating if mental health played a role in the 911 calls that Bassey made, Jones said.
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