The dead guy must have posed a real threat to the officer.

Via ABC: 

Local residents and the social media community reacted quickly to the news that a Chattanooga officer fired three shots at a man who had just taken his own life Sunday.

On Tuesday, we spoke to residents at Cross Creek Villas where Chattanooga Police lined the streets that Sunday morning. 

Tyran James says he came home to a crime scene after church.

"It's very disturbing to know that something was going on in the vicinity right where I stay," says Tyran.

In the past 24 hours, he said he heard a lot of hearsay about the incident. Late Monday night, Chattanooga Police released a statement saying officers engaged a suicidal man armed with a gun.

The release says police told the man to lower his weapon, but the man refused before shooting and killing himself.

According to police, an officer then accidentally pulled the trigger of his gun three times. They say one of those bullets hit the man who had just taken his life.

Read the rest of the story here.