Officials identify man killed in officer-involved shooting

SMITH COUNTY — 25-year-old Taylor Ray Stevenson of Greenville is identified as the person killed in an officer-involved shooting at a home near Lindale. Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith says Stevenson broke in before dawn Tuesday, then reportedly assaulted his girlfriend and allegedly tried to take her phone away. Three small children were on the scene during the incident. Smith says officers responded and tried to talk to Stevenson, but shots were fired. Stevenson was wounded and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Per standard protocol, the officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation. An autopsy was ordered.

According to our news partner KETK, Smith said Stevenson entered the house with a pistol in his hand and was reported to have taken pills prior to arriving at the house. “Apparently he was having some sort of mental breakdown,” Smith said. “[It was] induced by the medication he was overtaking.” Officers were dispatched to the house after receiving a call from the woman’s mother. When first responders arrived on the scene according to Smith, they were greeted by the woman carrying her 6-week-old daughter and she told them that Stevenson was still in the house with her 2-year-old. Stevenson was then reported to have exited the home carrying a pistol, and according to Smith, police negotiated with him for about 10 minutes before “our officers did what they needed to do, and unfortunately what they had to do.”