Arlington police officer shoots, kills armed driver during traffic stop on I-20

ARLINGTON, Texas - An Arlington police motorcycle officer shot and killed an armed driver during a traffic stop Thursday afternoon.

The shooting happened during a traffic stop on I-20 near Green Oaks Boulevard at around 1 p.m.

It took hours for police to process the scene on the highway where the black Cadillac sedan the suspect was driving sat with a shattered passenger side window.

The department says the officer pulled the Cadillac over because it was driving erratically across lanes of traffic.

"He did request that the driver turn off the vehicle and exit the vehicle," explained Arlington Police Sgt. Courtney White. 

The department says the driver refused to turn off the Cadillac or get out.

"The officer continued to give those instructions to the driver when he observed the driver was holding a firearm," White said.

The department will not say if the driver pointed or even fired the gun at the officer, but he refused to drop the gun, according to the department.

"The officer gave the driver multiple commands to drop his weapon," White said.

That’s when the situation turned deadly. 

"Our officer fired his weapon several times, striking the driver," White said.

Police did not specifically say how many shots the office fired.

The driver, who was alone in the Cadillac, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. 

Police say an internal affairs investigation will determine if the officer followed proper procedures, and a homicide investigation will look at the entirety of the incident.

Per department policy, the officer has been placed on administrative leave.

Arlington police say the officer was wearing a body camera and plan to release that footage early next week.