SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Police say that an investigation is underway in Springdale after an officer shot a man who refused to drop a knife.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12, the Springdale Police Department (SPD) responded to reports of an armed man allegedly damaging cars and threatening people on Norfolk Avenue. The man is identified as 30-year-old Dimitri Calvert.
An officer found Calvert armed with a knife, but when "the subject refused to drop the knife, the officer discharged their firearm ... The subject was transported to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead," according to SPD.
Police say an investigation into the officer's use of deadly force is being conducted by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and the officer has been placed on paid leave.
Ty Hudson lives nearby and was making dinner for his family when he said he heard about a dozen emergency vehicles go past his house.
"I just kept hearing one siren after the other, and engines just roaring down the road," Hudson said. "The speed in which they were flying down this road and all the sirens I knew something was going on."
He said his neighborhood is usually fairly quiet and something like this surprised him.
"I've lived here since 2009. I have never seen or heard anything like that, not that amount of cop cars flying down the road," Hudson said. "I've only ever had positive experiences with everyone in this neighborhood. I hope that was just an isolated incident with that individual."
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