Local News
20-Year-Old Killed Following East Lubbock Police Chase
A 20-year-old Lubbock man was shot and killed by police Monday morning after opening fire on officers during a traffic stop at 19th Street and Martin Luther King Jr.
Lubbock Police Department officers responded to the 2100 block of MLK just before 10 a.m. Following reports of shots fired near the Canyon Lakes area. Witnesses told police the driver, later identified as James Mayer, was firing a gun from his car window into bushes along the roadside while traveling through the neighborhood.
Officers located Mayer and conducted a traffic stop as he drove north through the 19th and MLK intersection. When officers ordered him to show his hands, Mayer refused. The situation escalated into a shootout, and Mayer was killed.
For people living near Canyon Lakes and the surrounding East Lubbock neighborhoods, Monday morning brought a jarring scene in an area that sits close to residential streets and the MLK corridor many folks travel daily. The intersection of 19th and MLK is a busy crossroads, and a shooting involving officers there in the middle of a weekday morning is not something those neighborhoods shake off quickly.
The Lubbock Police Department released details through a formal press release, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings and typically signals that a review process is underway.
Common questions
What happened at 19th and MLK in Lubbock Monday morning?
- A 20-year-old man named James Mayer was shot and killed by Lubbock police after he refused to show his hands and opened fire on officers during a traffic stop at 19th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just before 10 a.m.
Why did Lubbock police pull over James Mayer?
- Officers located Mayer after witnesses reported seeing him fire a gun from his car window into bushes along the roadside near the Canyon Lakes area. Police stopped him as he drove north through the 19th and MLK intersection.
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