Joseph E. Knight

Deadly force

Joseph E. Knight had led police on a low-speed pursuit after fleeing from a traffic stop. The pursuit ended at 1:30 p.m. when the man got out of the other with a shotgun pointed at his head, police said. The man went behind his house but continued to communicate with police. After more than an hour, the man attempted to kick in the back door of the house and shot himself in the shoulder in the process. The man was walking in the side yard with the shotgun in front of him, refusing commands to drop the shotgun, when he was shot and killed by two officers.