Officers fatally shoot a reportedly suicidal man armed with a gun, police in Nebraska say

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officers in Nebraska’s largest city fatally shot an armed man who pointed a gun at them in an Omaha street, police there said.

The shooting happened early Sunday morning in a southwestern part of the city near a shopping complex. Officers called to the scene for reports of a suicidal man encountered an armed man in the street holding a handgun to his head, police said.

The officers tried for several minutes to talk the man into putting his gun down, but when he pointed the gun at a bystander, then at the officers, police shot him, officials said.

The man, later identified as 27-year-old Matthew Johnson of Omaha, died at a hospital.

Johnson’s shooting death comes as police around the country seek new ways to handle their encounters with people who are mentally ill, who make up a substantial portion of those killed by police.

Detectives with the Douglas and Sarpy County sheriff’s departments are investigating the Omaha shooting. Police have not named the officers who shot Johnson.