Officers Kill Knife-Wielding Man near St. Louis, Police Say

A 23-year-old African-American man who barricaded himself in his mother’s house in a St. Louis suburb was shot and killed by police when he rushed at them with a knife in one hand and a Bible in the other, authorities said on Saturday.

The St. Louis County police chief described the encounter as one that left his officers with no choice but to open fire.

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According to a police statement, a woman told officers her son, Thaddeus McCarroll, had locked her out of her house, was armed with a knife and had mentioned a “black revolution.”

Police said they called on the man, who they could see was armed with knives and a sword, to leave the house and that when he finally did emerge from the home he held a knife in one hand and a Bible in the other.

Police tried to negotiate with McCaroll, telling him to drop the weapon. He did not comply, despite being shot at first with a “non-lethal round.” Instead he charged at the officers, the statement said.

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