Officer shoots, kills armed suspect in Carrollton

CARROLLTON, Texas - Police shot and killed an armed suspect who was allegedly holding a woman against her will in Carrollton.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday outside the InTown Suites on Trinity Mills Road. Police and SWAT officers were there to arrest 25-year-old Malcolm Hickson, who was wanted on several family violence assault charges.

Carrollton Police Department spokeswoman Jolene DeVito said police had been looking for Hickson. They finally got a tip about his location from an 18-year-old woman who said she escaped from him overnight.

When officers arrived, DeVito said Hickson walked out with a gun tucked into his waistband. He ended up reaching for the gun, so an officer shot him.

"He initially complied with officer commands, ‘Put your hands up.’ But then he reached for the gun, went from here to reach for the gun so that’s when the officer shot one time and he was hit in the upper chest area,” DeVito said.

Hickson was taken to a local hospital where he died. No officers were hurt.

Investigators believe the woman involved was being forced into sex trafficking. She said the suspect and other men had sexually assaulted her and he was holding her against her will with threats against her family, DeVito said.

Hickson had a long criminal history and until recently was incarcerated. Police did recover his gun as evidence.

Hickson's mother got news of her son's death in a phone call.

"He said ma'am can you come to the police department?" Natalie Hickson said. "I said, no, no, no, just tell me if he's dead. They said he's dead. He's dead."

Hickson's mother said she believes her son was too savvy to reach for a weapon when confronted by the SWAT team.

"There's a camera at that hotel, and I hope to hell that it works," Natalie Hickson said.

SWAT team members do not wear body cameras. Police are checking to see if the hotel's surveillance camera captured the shooting.

The officer involved is a 9-year veteran of the department who is at the sergeant level. Multiple agencies are now investigating how he handled the shooting, which is protocol.