Fort Worth police said an officer stopped to check on a man above the highway, then opened fire after the man approached with a sharp object.
FORT WORTH, Texas — An officer-involved shooting on a bridge above U.S. 287 in Fort Worth left one man dead Thursday afternoon after police said he rushed toward an officer with broken glass, closing a major traffic corridor for much of the evening.
The episode drew immediate attention not only because it ended in death but because it started as what police described as a welfare-type encounter involving a person on an overpass who appeared to be harming himself. Police Chief Eddie Garcia said the officer stopped after noticing the man leaning over the bridge near East Maddox Avenue. Within minutes, that contact became a fatal shooting. By Thursday night, Fort Worth police had not released the man’s name, had not detailed whether body camera footage captured the encounter and had not answered every question about how the confrontation escalated, leaving investigators to sort through witness accounts, dispatch calls and evidence from the scene.
Garcia said the first known moment came at about 4:03 p.m., when the officer was driving northbound on U.S. 287 and saw a man on the bridge with an object in his hand. The officer went up the hill toward the overpass and gave commands for the man to get off the bridge, Garcia said. The chief told reporters that the man then began cutting his neck with what looked like a broken bottle. Police also said several callers had already reported a man on the bridge holding glass and cutting himself. Garcia said the officer believed the man may have been trying to jump. Instead, the chief said, the man ran toward the officer while still armed with the sharp object. The officer fired and struck him. Emergency aid followed, but the man was pronounced dead at 4:28 p.m., according to police.
The known facts remained narrow Thursday night, and several important details were still missing. Police did not say how close the man was to the officer when shots were fired, how many rounds were discharged or whether officers used or considered any less-lethal options before the shooting. Authorities also did not identify the dead man or release his age. No officers were reported hurt. A nearby worker, Teodulo Serna, said the movement toward the officer happened quickly. In a local television interview, Serna said he saw the man go straight toward the officer before the officer raised his weapon and fired. The statement broadly matched the police account but did not answer key investigative questions, including the exact path of the man’s movement, what commands were given in the final seconds and whether the officer had cover or room to retreat on the overpass.
The public disruption was immediate and visible. Because the shooting happened on the bridge and above live traffic lanes, police closed the highway and the roadway beneath the overpass in all directions while investigators secured the area. That turned a crisis involving one person into a regionally felt traffic problem during a busy stretch of the day. Drivers were rerouted, and police remained on scene for hours collecting evidence. Authorities said the lanes fully reopened at about 7:29 p.m. The shutdown underscored how exposed the setting was: a man on a bridge, an officer approaching on foot, and fast-moving traffic below. It also added to the pressure on police leaders to provide an early explanation. Garcia’s briefing offered a basic timeline, but it also left open deeper questions about the man’s condition before officers arrived and whether any specialized crisis response could have reached him in time.
Those unanswered questions now sit inside the formal machinery that follows an officer-involved shooting. Investigators are expected to examine the officer’s statements, collect physical evidence from the bridge, review 911 calls and determine what video exists from body cameras, dash cameras or nearby traffic systems. The officer’s tenure was described by Garcia as six years with the department, a detail that may become part of the administrative review as supervisors examine training and prior history. No timetable was announced Thursday for release of investigative findings, and police did not set a date for a second briefing. The next likely steps include public identification of the man, any release decisions on video evidence and a fuller explanation of the encounter once forensic and witness reviews advance. Until then, the department’s account remains preliminary, and officials have said only that the investigation is continuing.
By evening, the overpass had become a stark image of a city paused by a sudden death. Patrol units sat with lights flashing as investigators worked the scene above dark strips of reopened pavement. The bridge railing, the glass, the hillside and the lane closures all pointed back to a short encounter that began with an officer stopping to check on a man in distress. Serna’s reaction conveyed the emotional weight left behind for people who saw it unfold. He said he felt sad watching the man collapse. That response did not settle the facts, but it captured the human cost at the center of the case: a person in visible crisis, an officer making a split-second decision, and a city left waiting for the fuller record of what happened on the bridge over U.S. 287.
As of late Thursday, Fort Worth police had not released the man’s identity or announced the next briefing, and the case remained open as investigators reviewed evidence from the overpass and surrounding roadway.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.