When Austin police received a 911 call Wednesday saying a resident in a downtown condominium building was having a mental breakdown, authorities say an officer with specialized mental health training was called to the scene.

But the only available mental health officer was assisting on another call at the time. As that officer headed to the scene, a group of officers shot the man in the building's gym while he held a large kitchen knife, police officials said. The 46-year-old man, whom police have not yet identified, died minutes later at the hospital.

Experts say the fatal police shooting illustrates a problem a recent study on Austin's mental health response found: Austin police need more support from mental health professionals when they respond to calls involving people who are having mental health crises.

The report was conducted in part because a 2018 audit found that Austin has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings involving people suffering from mental health issues and concluded that the Austin Police Department's mental health policies are not in line with widely accepted law enforcement practices.

"We're in a place now where we've studied it plenty," Austin criminal justice policy analyst Kathy Mitchell said. "We've seen too many people die. We need to change what we've been doing and start doing something else, even if it costs us some money."

Wednesday's incident began at 4:55 p.m., when a 911 caller told police that a neighbor was banging loudly on the emergency exit doors and that he might be having a mental breakdown, Police Chief Brian Manley said. By the time officers arrived, the man had entered the building and went upstairs.

The officers went into the lobby of Spring Condominiums and spoke to staff, who said the man had been walking around outside holding a large knife to his throat, Manley said. As the officers were putting together a plan to get him out of the area, staff informed them that the man was waving his knife at the camera in the building's gym.

"It was someone who, apparently, was in some level of mental crisis that drew us out here today," Manley said Wednesday as he briefed reporters outside the building.

Four officers took the elevator to the gym and the officers' body cameras captured on video the encounter with the man, Manley said. They got out of the elevator and saw him, and when they began giving him commands, he turned around, Manley said.

"It appears on the video he's initially holding what appears to be a very large kitchen knife to his throat," the chief said. "He then pulls it down more towards his side, and begins walking towards the officers. As he takes a step or two towards the officers, two of the officers fired their duty pistols, and one officer fired a Taser."

The man fell, and officers called for medical assistance, Manley said. Medics took him to a hospital, and he was pronounced dead at 6:07 p.m.

"I do want to take a moment to express our heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased here today," Manley said.

The two officers who fired their guns have been with the department for five years, Manley said. As is standard practice, they will be placed on administrative leave while police officials conduct criminal and internal investigations into the shooting.

A report published earlier this year — conducted at the City Council's request — made several recommendations for ways Austin could improve the way first responders react to these sorts of incidents, including expanding the city's crisis outreach team of clinicians, police and medics that already responds to mental health calls.

"Because of the unpredictable nature of police calls for service, crisis workers are not able to deploy to every call in which they could be of benefit," the report says. "Further, as we heard in multiple stakeholder committee meetings, there are times when this response is significantly delayed, if not impossible, because staffing patterns do not meet the need. To bring the program to scale, it needs to be sustainable and ensure that the city receives a quality return on its investment."