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The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office said deputies shot and killed a 51-year-old Edinburg man Tuesday evening after he lunged at and threw a knife at authorities.
In a news release, the sheriff’s office identified the man as Ruben Ollarzabal Chairez.
The sheriff’s office said its Communications Division received a 911 call Tuesday at 6:24 p.m. from a woman reporting that her father-in-law had stabbed her mother-in-law.
Deputies then responded to the 6600 block of West Drive in rural Edinburg for an aggravated assault family violence call in progress.
“Deputies arrived at the location and made contact with a man holding a knife and refusing to follow verbal commands issued by Deputies to drop the knife,” the release stated. “Deputies urged the man to drop the knife and to speak with them, but he refused.”
The sheriff’s office said deputies tried to subdue Chairez with a stun gun and rubber shotgun rounds, which didn’t work.
“Deputies continued to issue verbal commands when the suspect lunged at Deputies and threw the knife in the direction of the officers, causing them to fire their duty weapons and fatally wounding the suspect,” the release stated.
The sheriff’s office said deputies provided life-saving aid until EMS arrived.
“A short time later EMS arrived and pronounced the suspected deceased at the scene,” the release stated.
Investigators with the sheriff’s office’s Involved Shooting Team, Major Crime investigators and crime scene specialists arrived and processed the scene.
Witnesses told investigators that Chairez was upset for some reason and placed a knife against his wife’s neck inside the residence, according to the release.
She had no injuries and no deputies were injured, the release said.
The sheriff’s office said Chairez was previously arrested for family violence on Feb. 28 for threatening to kill his wife.
The findings of the investigation will be turned over to the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office for a grand jury review, the release said.
Per protocol, five deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into policy violations.
The department said the deputies have a range of law enforcement experience ranging from one to eight years.
