Officers Shoot Armed Suspect In Cedar Park Wooded Area

CEDAR PARK, TX — Police on Sunday afternoon released details on an officer-involved shooting just before midnight, saying officers were forced to shoot an armed suspect after encountering him in a wooded area.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, police responded to the area of Whitestone Boulevard and Bagdad Avenue amid reports of someone making a terroristic threat earlier in the evening, officials said in a press advisory released just before 2 p.m. on Sunday. The suspect, 47-year-old John Marcus Perry, is said to have threatened suicide as he flashed a gun to passing motorists, saying the police would have to stop him.

Although the exact location of the suspect was unknown at the time, police knew he frequented the area of Whitestone Boulevard and Bagdad Avenue, according to the press advisory. Officers went to that location to look for Perry while requesting air support assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to police, officials said. An aircraft was already in flight nearby, and quickly responded to the scene before locating the suspect in a wooded area just north of Whitestone Boulevard, according to the police account.

Officers searched the wooded area to make contact before spotting Perry holding what appeared to be a rifle as he moved towards them, police said. As the suspect neared, the officers illuminated him with bright flashlights at which time he presented the rifle in a manner determined by the officers to be a threat to their personal safety, according to the advisory. At that, police said, both officers at the scene fired their guns, and the suspect went down.

The officers ares said to have implemented life-saving measures, including applying a tourniquet on the suspect to stop his bleeding. Perry was transported to a regional hospital where he remains in stable condition, police said.

No other injuries were reported, police said.

"This remains an open investigation, and further information will be available in the coming days," police said. Consistent with police protocol, both officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a Texas Rangers investigation, officials added.

As police continue their investigation, they urge anyone with information to contact Lt. Larry Bond at (512) 260-4766.

From earlier:

CEDAR PARK, TX — Police responded to an officer-involved shooting in Cedar Park early Sunday, officials said.

In a tweet posted at 1:15 a.m., the Cedar Park Police Department wrote that the incident occurred at the 900 block of West Whitestone Boulevard they described as an "officer-involved shooting." Although they didn't specify whether it was a suspect or an officer injured, officials wrote: "One subject transported to area hospital."

Police assured no threat to the public continues to exist. The police department indicated a press conference would be staged to provide an update. Patch will update when more information is known.