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Plano officer shoots rifle-wielding man after traffic accident in Dallas, police say

The man’s wounds were not believed to be life-threatening.

Updated at 1:15 p.m.: Revised to include comments from witnesses.

A Plano police officer shot an armed man after a traffic accident Thursday morning in southeast Oak Cliff, authorities say.

Dallas police said the Plano officer, who was not hurt in the incident, was driving at Bonnie View Road and Tioga Street, just north of Interstate 20, about 7:15 a.m. when he saw a man involved in the crash get a rifle from his backseat.

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The officer, who was not wearing a uniform, stopped “out of concern,” identified himself as police and told the man to stop.

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The man, whose name was not released, kept walking away and then turned and pointed the rifle at the officer, Dallas police said. At that point, the officer fired at the man, striking him in the arm.

Dallas police said multiple shots were fired but did not provide details.

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The man fled, but authorities found him after a nearby resident called 911 to report a suspicious person in a backyard, Dallas police said.

The man was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

Plano police said the officer was in Dallas to serve a warrant. His name was not released.

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Further details about what led to the shooting and charges the man may face were not released.

Don Whitfield, whose bedroom window faces the scene of the crash, said he and his wife had been calling police about the accident when he heard gunshots.

A man who had been “walking fine” immediately doubled over, he said.

Whitfield said he never saw the man holding a gun.

“He didn’t have nothing, I promise you. That’s what I saw,” he said. “This particular guy did not have anything in his hands.”

That man walked back to his car and later got into an ambulance, Whitfield said.

He and his wife, Brenda Whitfield, said they didn’t see the Plano officer’s car and weren’t sure whether anyone else was involved in the shooting.

Dallas police said other witnesses supported officials’ account of the shooting.

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Plano police said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is routine in officer-involved shootings.