A suicidal ex-Ector County Sheriff’s deputy with a partially missing arm pointed a handgun at local and federal authorities during a confrontation in an alleyway and was fatally shot Thursday, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported Friday.

Jason Wade Meador, 50, who worked for the sheriff’s office for five years and nine months until 1995, died from his injuries following the shooting that broke out Thursday afternoon in the 1200 block of Douglas Drive. Police at the scene said the distraught man had poured a flammable liquid all over himself and was armed during the ordeal.

Many details were not disclosed by DPS spokespeople but records show that Meador had past run-ins with the law, one as recent as September 2015 on a charge of public intoxication. The Texas Rangers are now leading the investigation into what is being called an officer-involved-shooting.  DPS Sgt. Elizabeth Carter said Meador’s shooting involved one Odessa Police Department officer and another officer with the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

The names of those two officers won’t be publicly released until Rangers interview them, the sergeant said. A meeting has been set up Friday with DPS officials to discuss procedural matters but not specifically about the interviews, Carter said.

A timeline for when those interviews would take place was not known, Carter said, but she reiterated that the names of those officers would be released until after the DPS first talks to them.

“That’s what normally happens,” Carter said.

Whether the officers involved have been reassigned, the number of times Meador was shot and whether the incident was a suicide-by-cop instigated by Meador has not been confirmed as the DPS probe is ongoing, Carter said.

“To me this is just so sad,” said a neighbor who declined to give her name. She didn’t know who Meador was but recalled him being a very friendly person who spent much of his time indoors. “He seemed like a very nice man.”

Ector County District Attorney’s Investigator Joe Commander agrees with that sentiment. Commander knew Meador during the time he worked at the sheriff’s office and recalled Meador as being “pleasant to be around with.”

Commander said he really admired Meador for overcoming his “handicap” in working as a deputy and making it to sheriff’s office. Commander didn’t know why Meador left law enforcement or how Meador lost part of his arm but maintained he was always “a nice guy.”

That’s why Meador’s passing came as such a shock to Commander. He said he had only seen Meador briefly a couple of months ago while grocery shopping and chatted with him, he said.

“I was really shocked to hear that it was Jason,” Commander said. “It saddened me. It’s very unfortunate.”

Officers received a dispatch at about 4:27 p.m. Thursday about a suicidal man and were sent to 1209 Douglas Drive. Odessa police swarmed around the neighborhood and officers holding weapons walked up to nearby homes, telling residents to leave as the incident apparently spilled onto the alleyway.

Then less than 30 minutes later gunshots rang out, prompting officers to close off a section of Gage Avenue between 44th Street and Douglas Drive. The DPS press statement read that officers with the OPD and the U.S. Marshal’s Office tried talking Meador into not hurting himself before he, “according to officers’ statements, eventually brandished a handgun in the direction of police and was shot by law enforcement officers,” the statement read.

DPS officials did not say what drove Meador into doing what authorities said he did but the violent event stunned one woman who lives next door to the former Ector County Sheriff’s deputy. Meador’s family members declined to comment, saying “not right now.”

“I didn’t know them well. (Meador) seemed like a kind-hearted person,” said Kelli Stamper, Meador’s next-door neighbor. “He occasionally would walk his dog … all I know is that (the Meador family) are very sweet people.”

Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said Meador worked for the sheriff’s office from December 1989 through January 1995, when Meador resigned. Meador first worked in the jail and then “he worked the street” on patrol duty, Donaldson said.

Meador began his career in law enforcement at Odessa College Police Department in July 1998, records show.

Donaldson said he believes Meador used a prosthetic on his left arm. Donaldson said he didn’t know the circumstances under which Meador had to use a prosthetic limb but said he may have been the first officer to use a prosthetic limb while on duty.

Meador’s motives remain a mystery for now, but a public records check show Meador had a past brushes with law enforcement.  

A criminal history search through the Texas Department of Public Safety online records revealed that Meador, then 19, had been arrested in Nov. 4, 1984 by Ector County Sheriff’s deputies on a charge accusing him of driving under the influence of liquor for which he was convicted. He was sentenced to 20 months probation, which was transferred to Travis County, records showed.

Meador was arrested, at the age of 29, a second time on April 20, 1995, this time by the Odessa Police Department on a misdemeanor charge of evading arrest or detention, an offense for which Meador pleaded guilty and was fined $200.

Meador was also arrested as recently as September of last year on a charge of public intoxication, said Ector County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Duesler, who added that he did not know the status of the case.

A suicidal ex-Ector County Sheriff’s deputy with a partially missing arm pointed a handgun at local and federal authorities during a confrontation in an alleyway and was fatally shot Thursday, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported Friday.

Jason Wade Meador, 50, who worked for the sheriff’s office for six years and nine months until 1995, died from his injuries following the shooting that broke out Thursday afternoon in the 1200 block of Douglas Drive. Police at the scene said the distraught man had poured a flammable liquid all over himself and was armed during the ordeal.

Many details were not disclosed by DPS spokespeople. The Texas Rangers are now leading the investigation into what is being called an officer-involved-shooting. DPS Sgt. Elizabeth Carter said Meador’s shooting involved one Odessa Police Department officer and another officer with the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

The names of those two officers won’t be publicly released until Rangers interview them, the sergeant said. A meeting has been set up Friday with DPS officials to discuss procedural matters but not specifically about the interviews, Carter said.

A timeline for when those interviews would take place was not known, Carter said, but she reiterated that the names of those officers would be released until DPS first talks to them.

“That’s what normally happens,” Carter said.

Whether the officers involved have been reassigned, the number of times Meador was shot and whether the incident was a suicide-by-cop instigated by Meador has not been confirmed as the DPS probe is ongoing, Carter said.

“To me this is just so sad,” said a neighbor who declined to give her name. She didn’t know who Meador was but recalled him being a very friendly person who spent much of his time indoors. “He seemed like a very nice man.”

Ector County District Attorney’s Investigator Joe Commander agrees with that sentiment. Commander knew Meador during the time he worked at the sheriff’s office and recalled Meador as being “pleasant to be around with.”

Commander said he really admired Meador for overcoming his “handicap” in working as a deputy and making it to sheriff’s office. Commander didn’t know why Meador left law enforcement or how Meador lost part of his arm but maintained he was always “a nice guy.”

That’s why Meador’s passing came as such a shock to Commander. He said he had only seen Meador briefly a couple of months ago while grocery shopping and chatted with him, he said.

“I was really shocked to hear that it was Jason,” Commander said. “It saddened me. It’s very unfortunate.”

Officers received a dispatch at about 4:27 p.m. Thursday about a suicidal man and were sent to 1209 Douglas Drive. Odessa police swarmed around the neighborhood and officers holding weapons walked up to nearby homes, telling residents to leave as the incident apparently spilled onto the alleyway.

Then less than 30 minutes later gunshots rang out, prompting officers to close off a section of Gage Avenue between 44th Street and Douglas Drive. The DPS press statement read that officers with the OPD and the U.S. Marshal’s Office tried talking Meador into not hurting himself before he, “according to officers’ statements, eventually brandished a handgun in the direction of police and was shot by law enforcement officers,” the statement read.

DPS officials did not say what drove Meador into doing what authorities said he did but the violent event stunned one woman who lives next door to the former Ector County Sheriff’s deputy. Meador’s family members declined to comment, saying “not right now.”

“I didn’t know them well. (Meador) seemed like a kind-hearted person,” said Kelli Stamper, Meador’s next-door neighbor. “He occasionally would walk his dog … all I know is that (the Meador family) are very sweet people.”

Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said Meador worked for the sheriff’s office from December 1989 through January 1995, when Meador resigned. Meador first worked in the jail and then “he worked the street” on patrol duty, Donaldson said.

Donaldson said he believes Meador used a prosthetic on his left arm. Donaldson said he didn’t know the circumstances under which Meador had to use a prosthetic limb but said he may have been the first officer to use a prosthetic limb while on duty.

Meador’s motives remain a mystery for now, but a public records check show Meador had past run-ins with the law.

A criminal history search through the Texas Department of Public Safety online records revealed that Meador, then 19, had been arrested in Nov. 4, 1984 by Ector County Sheriff’s deputies on a charge accusing him of driving under the influence of liquor for which he was convicted. He was sentenced to 20 months probation, which was transferred to Travis County, records showed.

Meador was arrested, at the age of 29, a second time on April 20, 1995, this time by the Odessa Police Department on a misdemeanor charge of evading arrest or detention, an offense for which Meador pleaded guilty and was fined $200.

PREVIOUS VERSION: A suicidal former Ector County Sheriff’s deputy brandished a gun toward Odessa Police officers Thursday and was shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported Friday.

Jason Meador, 50, died of his injuries at the Medical Center Hospital following his confrontation with officer in an alleyway behind the 1200 of Douglas Drive. Officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Service tried to talk Meador into giving up but he pointed a handgun toward police and was shot, the DPS reported.

Meador had worked for the sheriff’s office until 1995. DPS confirmed Meador had a partially missing arm. No other information was available about the shooting.