Sheriff: Man pointed gun at police before he was shot by officers in west Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A man is in critical but stable condition following an officer-involved shooting in west Lincoln Monday afternoon.

According to investigators with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, members of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force were surveilling a hotel room at Super 8, regarding a separate investigation.

Sheriff Terry Wagner said task force members left their spot at the hotel and went to the parking lot across the street. An LPD investigator and an NSP investigator were in one vehicle, and another NSP investigator was in a separate vehicle, according to Sheriff Wagner.

LSO investigators said a black Chevy Impala with New York license plates, driven by 35-year-old Chace Abney, followed the task force members from the motel to the parking lot.

According to Sheriff Wagner, the task force members, who were wearing vests and badges identifying them as law enforcement, got out of their vehicles to make contact with Abney.

Sheriff Wagner claims that the task force members gave verbal commands to Abney to get out of his car but they claim that he did not comply with their commands.

Sheriff Wagner also claims that Abney pulled a 9mm pistol and pointed it at the officers.

LSO investigators claim that one round was fired from the pistol in Abney’s possession.

According to investigators, one trooper and the LPD officer returned fire. Sheriff Wagner said that Abney was shot more than once.

Sheriff Wagner said the investigators were not wearing body cameras and police cruiser dash cameras were not being used.

Abney was transported to a hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds. Sheriff Wagner said Abney has ties to Lincoln and was in the area for roughly a week.

Investigators said the pistol in Abney’s possession was reported stolen out of Norfolk on Monday. However, Sheriff Wagner said it’s not clear when the pistol was stolen.

Sheriff Wagner said Abney had outstanding warrants in Arizona, California and New York.

According to NSP, a firearm was recovered at the scene. No officers were injured during the incident.

Sheriff Wagner said Abney was not the subject of the initial investigation involving task force members.

Investigators said roughly 30 minutes after the shooting, officers saw 25-year-old Dylan Johnson in the parking lot at Super 8, throwing away a number of bags of marijuana.

According to investigators, they served a search warrant in Johnson’s hotel room and recovered approximately one pound of methamphetamine, half pound of marijuana, five grams of cocaine, as well as an AR style rifle. Johnson was lodged in jail for four felonies.

Investigators with the narcotics task force said they can’t comment if Johnson was the original reason they were surveilling the Super 8.

LPD and NSP have requested the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office to conduct the investigation into the incident. Both involved investigators have been placed on administrative leave in accordance with each agency’s policy.

Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved.