PHOENIX (AP) - Authorities have released the name of the Phoenix police officer who fatally shot a man holding a woman at knifepoint.
Police said Friday that 37-year-old Officer Alan Bansky shot the suspect with a rifle as he was restraining the woman and holding a knife to her neck.
The Nov. 10 incident occurred near a downtown Phoenix park.
Responding officers found 43-year-old Thomas Aikens sitting with his back to a garage in an alley and holding the unidentified 57-year-old victim.
Police officers tried to get him to let the woman go, but Aikens refused and allegedly told them he was sitting on a bomb.
After the shooting, police found Aiken had wrapped a chain around the woman to keep her from fleeing.
Bansky is an eight-year veteran of the department.
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