Austin police have identified the man who stabbed an officer in the neck during an overnight pursuit.
Police say Maurice Pierce led the short chase with officers this morning after running a stop sign.
Austin police say veteran Officer Frank Wilson was riding in a patrol car with another officer when they observed a suspect running a stop sign in the area of Heinemann and Shreveport in Northwest Austin. As the two officers attempted to pull the driver over, the driver evaded them, and eventually got out of the vehicle and ran away on foot.
Assistant Chief David Carter says when Officer Wilson ran after the suspect, then a struggle ensued. At one point the suspect reportedly grabbed a knife from the officer's duty belt and used it to stab Officer Wilson in the neck. Officer Wilson managed to fire off a single round before collapsing.
The suspect ran away from the scene but neighbors and police found him deceased several blocks away.
Paramedics rushed Officer Wilson to a hospital in Round Rock where he underwent surgery Friday morning.
Pierce is one of four suspects initially charged in the fatal shootings of four teenage girls in Austin. Those girls were shot inside the "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" shop on Anderson Lane in North Austin back in 1991.
This was the second violent episode between Pierce and Austin police in the last two years.
