Arlington PD: Man killed after charging at officers with knife

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A man was fatally shot by police after Arlington PD says he charged at officers with a knife Thursday afternoon.

Two Arlington police officers were responding to a 911 hang-up call around 3:15 p.m. When they arrived at the home in the 2100 block of Reverchon Drive a couple of hours later, they found three people in the home.

Neighbors said it’s typically a pretty quiet neighborhood, but it was a chaotic afternoon as this situation unfolded at the home.

After the 911 hang-up call, two officers still went to the home just to check on the residents, which is typical to make sure everyone inside is safe.

When the officers walked up to the door, they spoke with a person at the door and asked to check the house out. Once the first officer made it in a few steps, a second man came from behind a wall and tried to stab the officers with a large knife. Both officers fired their guns, hitting the suspect multiple times.

The medical examiner identified the man as 38-year-old Hieu Than. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

“It's almost as if the suspect was waiting for the officers to come in,” said Arlington Police Lt. Chris Cook. “He immediately charged the officer and caught the first officer by surprise.”

“All the officers just got out of the car and ran down. I mean there was no walking. Everyone was on a mission,” recalled neighbor Jason Kabakoff. “Other than that, they blocked off the street. Fire trucks on both ends. Ambulances, they took the guy out. And they were doing compressions on him when they brought him out.”

The incident was captured on body-worn cameras. Arlington officers recently started wearing the cameras in the field. Any release of the footage will not happen immediately.

Police are now looking into whether or not there were any past calls for service involving the address and the suspect.

Police said three people total were in the home. Both of the other adults are being cooperative, but police were bringing in a translator to help.

No officers were injured.