Axe-Wielding College Student Shot by Police in Texas

An axe-wielding University of North Texas hospitality student has been killed by police following a confrontation on campus that terrorized students.

The shooting took place overnight at the UNT Campus in Denton when police officers shot 21-year-old Ryan McMillan the local Fox 4 News reported.

Authorities initially responded to a call of a man who had been breaking car windows at an apartment complex parking garage, UNT spokeswoman Margarita Venegas told the local TV station. The area where the shooting took place is described by local outlets as having various bars nearby. 

“When the police officer got here, he saw a suspect who had a hatchet and the suspect advanced on him and so he fired at the suspect in response,” the school official is quoted in that piece.

The sophomore student had just completed his first semester at the university after transferring in from another school, North Texas Daily reported. The local news outlet tweeted a video released by police showing McMillian walking through the garage carrying what appears to be an long axe in his right hand.

We just received raw video of the suspect from last night. pic.twitter.com/Dxy8iN2vnr

— North Texas Daily (@ntdaily) December 13, 2015

The garage was part of the Christian Campus Center located just off campus in Denton, Texas. A Texas Ranger was seen exiting his vehicle after the shooting. The Ranger was assigned to take over the investigation of the officer-involved shooting, reporter Dalton LaFerney wrote.

Police told LeFereny they expect the damage estimate for the vehicles attacked by the student to be in the thousands of dollars. Venegas told reporters that the officer witnessed McMillian smashing at least one window with the axe when he arrived on the scene.

Witnesses reportedly heard four shots fired.

Some did not believe the police were correct in shooting the axe-wielding man. “You could have disarmed him,” one person yelled at investigating officers.

A UNT student, Ashley Jones, arrived on the scene not long after the shooting. She had known McMillian for only a short time as he had only been at UNT for one semester. She told LeFerney she had encountered McMillian shortly before the shooting. She said he didn’t “appear quite right”, he wrote. She rolled down her window to say hello. “What she got in return was not the passing smile she saw on campus, but McMillan smashing the hood of her car with an axe,” the North Texas Daily journalist wrote.

University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk released a statement on Sunday. “When the officer arrived, he encountered a white male suspect in the street who was carrying an axe,” the university president wrote. “The suspect advanced on the officer and the officer fired at the suspect, who sadly was one of our students. The suspect was the only person injured.”

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter@BobPriceBBTX.