Machete-wielding woman shot by Hawkins police after advancing on officer

HAWKINS, Texas (KLTV) - The Texas Rangers are investigating an officer-involved shooting in one East Texas town.

It happened in Hawkins Thursday in the on FM-14, adjacent to the Hawkins ISD campuses.

The call came to Hawkins police around 5-pm Thursday that a disturbance was occurring in the roadway of FM-14 near the school campus.

“We have over 8 witnesses that were on scene, seeing how this whole thing went down,” said Hwakins police chief Manfred Gilow.

A patrol officer was called to a location where a subject was reported in the roadway.

One witness who was caught in the stopped traffic, told police she saw a young woman with a machete in the middle of the road, who was attacking passing cars.

As the officer arrived, witnesses told police the woman turned and advanced on the officer slashing at him.

Chief Gilow says the officer attempted to de-escalate the situation, but when that failed, used non-lethal force. A taser.

“My officer was not injured. Contact was made with him on this blade, but he is not injured,” the chief said.

Gilow says the taser was ineffective, and lethal force was used. The woman was shot and died at the scene.

“This was a split second decision he had to make. For any officer to use deadly force, it’s awful, and the officer has to live with it. This case is under investigation, I’ve turned it over to the Texas Rangers,”said Gilow.

The rangers are investigating, and the officer who fired the shot is on paid administrative leave.

Investigators will not release dash-cam or body-cam video of the incident at this time.

Neither the name of the woman or the officer involved in the shooting have been released.

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