Summaries of Officers Feloniously Killed
Note: Occasionally, the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program is unable to publish summaries concerning some officers who are feloniously killed in the line of duty. These situations may stem from insufficient information, gag orders issued by the courts, or other unusual circumstances. Although written summaries of the deaths of two law enforcement officers who were killed in 2013 are not included in this publication, all available information is included where applicable in the data tables.
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On January 15 just after 11:30 a.m., an officer with the Galt Police Department was killed while investigating a suspicious person/circumstance. The 35-year-old officer, who had more than 3 years of law enforcement experience, responded to a residential burglary. At the residence, a witness pointed out an individual walking on railroad tracks nearby. The officer drove his marked patrol unit parallel to the railroad tracks and stopped when he reached the subject. The officer, who was wearing body armor, exited his patrol unit and approached the individual. Almost immediately, a struggle ensued. The officer radioed that he was engaged in a struggle with a subject. The officer’s partner could see the struggle from the site of the burglary and drove to the scene. As the partner officer exited his vehicle, he saw the 30-year-old man shoot the officer in the side of the head with a .38-caliber revolver. The suspect took cover behind the victim officer’s patrol unit, firing rounds at the partner officer. The suspect then ran, keeping the vehicle between himself and the partner officer. The partner officer retrieved his rifle, took aim at the suspect, and commanded the suspect to stop. The suspect suddenly stopped moving, turned the handgun on himself, and committed suicide. The victim officer was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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Within a week’s time in February, two law enforcement officers were killed and two were wounded as a result of two related incidents. On February 7, a police officer with the Riverside Police Department (RPD) was shot and killed, and another RPD police officer was shot and wounded during an ambush at 1:35 a.m. The 34-year-old veteran officer who was killed had 11½ years of law enforcement experience, and the 27-year-old officer who was wounded had 2½ years of law enforcement experience. While the officers were stopped at a traffic light in a marked patrol vehicle, an individual pulled his vehicle alongside the officers, exited it, and began firing multiple rounds from a semiautomatic rifle into the passenger compartment of the patrol vehicle. The offender then returned to his vehicle and fled the scene. The veteran officer was struck by rounds in the neck/throat, front upper torso/chest, and fatally in the side of his head. The second officer was wounded in his front upper torso/chest and arms/hands. Both officers were wearing body armor; however, their protective vests failed. The officers were transported to a nearby hospital where the veteran officer was pronounced dead just after 2 a.m. The second officer survived his wounds. The 33-year-old suspect was a former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who had been fired in 2009. During the investigation, authorities discovered that the suspect posted a manifesto on a social media page on February 4 documenting his grievances against the LAPD and his intention to kill specific officers and their families. The suspect was wanted in the February 3 murder of two family members of a retired LAPD officer, a February 6 kidnapping, and a February 7 attempt to kill an LAPD officer that occurred prior to the shooting of the RPD officers. During this time, a massive search effort was underway, and protection details were assigned to potential targets.
After killing the RPD officer and wounding that officer’s partner on February 7, the suspect remained at large until 5 days later. Around 12:30 p.m. on February 12, during a tactical situation involving the suspect in Barton Flats, a detective with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBCSD) was killed, and a SBCSD deputy sheriff was wounded. The detective and the deputy, along with many other law enforcement officers, were attempting to apprehend the suspect. The 35-year-old detective was a veteran with 15 years of law enforcement experience, and the 26-year-old deputy was a veteran with nearly 6 years of law enforcement experience. Earlier in the day, two civilians entered a rental cabin where the suspect had been hiding. The suspect fled from that location in the civilians’ vehicle. The SBCSD detective and the SBCSD deputy responded separately to radio traffic advising that the suspect had carjacked another civilian and was now driving a different vehicle. While searching for the suspect’s vehicle, authorities focused their attention on an area near another vacant vacation cabin. Both the detective and deputy arrived at the scene and exited their vehicles. They took cover behind a vehicle while devising a plan to capture the suspect. When the officers stepped out from their positions of cover, the suspect fired at them with a .223-caliber rifle. The detective was shot in the front lower torso/stomach, the front below the waist, and fatally in the neck/throat. The deputy was shot and wounded in the front head, the front below the waist, and the arms/hands. The deputy survived his injuries. Both officers were wearing body armor. The suspect barricaded himself in the cabin, which was quickly surrounded by law enforcement. The suspect initiated a gun battle with deputies; during the standoff, he committed suicide.
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A 38-year-old detective and a 51-year-old sergeant with the Santa Cruz Police Department were killed while attempting an arrest around 3:25 p.m. on February 26. The detective, a 10-year veteran of law enforcement, and the sergeant, a 28-year veteran of law enforcement, went to the residence of a man to obtain a statement concerning a sexual assault in which the man was reported as a suspect. On February 22, the suspect had been arrested for public intoxication at the residence of a co-worker. Reportedly, the suspect had been out with a group that night, including the co-worker. The suspect parted company with them, but ended up back at the co-worker’s residence and refused to leave. The officers who responded that night jailed the suspect for 5 hours and then released him. The following day, a woman who had been at the residence reported that the man had sexually assaulted her during the incident that led to his arrest for public intoxication. The detective and the sergeant followed up on the accusation on February 26. About 2:50 p.m., the officers arrived at the suspect’s residence and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Looking through a window, the officers saw someone inside. The sergeant identified himself as a law enforcement officer, and the detective attempted to call the suspect’s phone twice, but the man did not answer. Shortly after 3 p.m., the officers noticed a man outside the residence that appeared to be the suspect. They questioned the man, determined he was not the suspect, and returned to the suspect’s residence. About 3:15 p.m., the sergeant observed a man inside the residence. The man remained inside, but began to talk to the officers through the windows and doors. The man asked if the officers were going to arrest him. The officers told him several times they wanted to get his account of the events from February 22. At 3:18 p.m., the detective lost sight of the man and she expressed concern that they may need another police unit. The officers continued to talk with the suspect, who remained inside the residence. The officers eventually told the suspect he was under arrest and instructed him to come outside. After about 5 minutes, when the suspect did not exit, the officers walked to the back of the house on opposite sides of the residence and ended up on opposite sides of the back door. The sergeant looked through a window and saw the suspect heading to the back of the house. The sergeant informed the detective that the suspect was going to the back door. Seconds later, the man exited the back door with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and fired two rounds at the detective. The first round struck the detective in her arms/hands, and the second round hit her in the front of the head, killing her instantly. The suspect then turned toward the sergeant and fired three times. The sergeant attempted to dive for cover but was fatally wounded by rounds that struck him in the rear lower torso/back. The suspect walked up to the sergeant and fired three more rounds into the rear of his head. The suspect took the sergeant’s firearm from its holster, walked over to the detective and shot her in the side of the head. The man also took the detective’s firearm from its holster and left the scene in the sergeant’s unmarked vehicle. Shortly after 3:25 p.m., several residents in the nearby area called 911 to report hearing gunshots. Responding officers arrived at the scene within minutes and found the victim officers. The officers cleared the residence and surrounding area to ensure the suspect was not there, then established a perimeter and searched house-to-house for the suspect. An officer at the scene noticed a man attempting to hide behind a fence that ran between a neighboring residence and an apartment complex. The officer engaged the man and asked him to show his hands. The man did not show his hands to the officer, and the officer could not see him completely behind the fence. Other officers recognized it was the suspect hiding at the fence. Additional officers arrived and took up positions at the entrance of the apartment complex. The suspect turned and ran toward the driveway of the apartment complex and fired at officers from handguns he was carrying in each hand. Four officers fired back at the suspect as he attempted to take cover behind a cinderblock wall. Hit by several rounds, the man fell to the ground. As the suspect reached his hand into a bag he was carrying, an officer shot him in the head, justifiably killing the suspect. Further investigation revealed that the suspect owned one of the handguns he was carrying and the other one belonged to the victim detective. The 35-year-old suspect, who was on probation at the time of the incident and had a criminal record that included violent crime and weapons violations, was also found wearing the victim sergeant’s body armor under a sweatshirt. The investigation also revealed that the suspect knew one of the victim officers through a previous law enforcement encounter.
A 42-year-old corporal with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed on August 5 while investigating a domestic dispute in Port Charlotte. Just after 8 p.m., the veteran corporal, who had 21 years of law enforcement experience, was the first to respond to a domestic disturbance call. A man in an apartment told the 911 operator that his parents were arguing, and he believed his father hit his mother. The operator talked to the mother. She said everything was fine, but when the woman left the call, the line remained open and the operator heard loud arguing in the background. At one point, the 911 operator asked the initial caller if there were any weapons or firearms in the apartment. The man replied yes, but said the weapons were all locked in a safe. Just before the corporal arrived at the scene, the dispatcher advised him about the weapons in the safe, relayed the report that no one was armed, and informed the corporal that there was a physical altercation in progress between the two men in the residence. The corporal knocked on the front door of the apartment and announced his presence by shouting, “Open up! Sheriff’s office!” The corporal requested emergency traffic only on the radio and asked communications to advise the complainant, who had called 911 earlier from the residence, to let him in. As the corporal opened the apartment door, rounds were fired from a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun from the top of the stairway. One round hit the corporal in the front upper torso/chest above his body armor. He retreated and radioed, “Shots fired.” Responding officers moved the injured corporal to a safe location and provided CPR. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The 49-year-old offender, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, committed suicide at the scene.
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On February 28 at 9:30 a.m., a sergeant with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office was killed after he attempted to stop a driver for a traffic violation in Fort Pierce. The 35-year-old veteran sergeant, who had more than 12 years of law enforcement experience, tried to make contact with the driver. The driver stopped briefly, then fled in his vehicle; the sergeant gave chase in his police unit. Without warning, the driver slammed on his brakes and came to a sudden stop. The sergeant, who was wearing body armor, swerved around and brought his police unit to a stop slightly in front of the vehicle. The driver exited his vehicle, armed with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, and ran behind the sergeant’s police unit. The sergeant put his vehicle in park and opened his door, but before he could exit the police unit, the driver shot the sergeant four times. The sergeant was instantly incapacitated, suffering a fatal wound to the side head, as well as injuries to the neck/throat, front upper torso/chest, and arms/hands. The 25-year-old assailant fled in his vehicle, but uniformed patrol officers pursued him. He was apprehended a short time later. The assailant was charged with First-Degree Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm Against a Law Enforcement Officer, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Aggravated Fleeing/Eluding.
Around 2 a.m. on September 20, a patrol officer with the Indianapolis Police Department was fatally wounded while responding to a domestic call. Moments earlier, the 41-year-old veteran officer, who had nearly 6 years of law enforcement experience, was the first officer to arrive at the apartment from which a neighbor in the complex had heard cries for help and had contacted the police. The officer knocked on the door, but no one immediately answered. Unknown to the officer, a man inside was holding his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint in the front room and had been doing so for the last 3 hours during which he had physically and sexually assaulted her. The woman’s baby was also in the apartment in a bedroom. Upon hearing the officer knock at the door, the suspect ordered the woman to the floor and looked out the peep hole in the door. As the woman crawled to the hall by a bedroom and began screaming for help, the man moved against the wall behind the front door. At that time, the veteran officer radioed dispatch and other officers that he was going to have to force entry. When the officer forced the door open, the woman began screaming that the man was behind the door. Immediately, the suspect stepped from behind the door and shot the officer at close range with a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun. The officer fell to the floor in the center of the room and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The officer fired eight rounds and the offender fired seven rounds, one of which entered the officer’s front upper torso/chest through the armhole of his body armor. A second police officer entered the unit and shot the suspect who fell to the floor in the doorway. Additional officers arrived and tended to the victim officer until he was transported to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his wound. Gunshots from the second officer justifiably killed the suspect, who was on parole and under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. In addition, the 24-year-old offender was known to use, deal, and possess drugs, and he had a prior criminal record that included weapons violations and drug violations.
On September 13, a 37-year-old police officer with the Rockwell City Police Department was shot and killed during a tactical situation around 1:40 a.m. The veteran officer, who had 14 years of law enforcement experience, was with other officers attempting to serve an arrest warrant for assault at the suspect’s house. On September 8, the suspect had allegedly assaulted his mother causing severe injury. Prior to that, the offender was the primary suspect of several ongoing criminal mischief investigations. On September 12, around 9:30 p.m., law enforcement officials were alerted that the suspect was at his residence. Due to increasing concerns about the individual’s mental health, the Regional Tactical Team (RTT) served the arrest warrant. The RTT arrived at the suspect’s residence at approximately 11:30 p.m. and announced their presence. For 2 hours, the individual refused to come to the door. Around 1:40 a.m., the officer was assigned to use a pike pole to break out the bedroom window and remove the curtain blocking the view into the bedroom. As the officer was breaking the window, the individual fired one round from a .223-caliber bolt-action rifle from the bedroom doorway. The round entered above the victim officer’s body armor, pierced his neck/throat, traveled into his front upper torso/chest, exited his chest wall and re-entered his arm/hand. The officer was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The suspect refused to surrender to the remaining team members. The Iowa State Patrol Tactical Team arrived on the scene at approximately 5 a.m. The 32-year-old suspect surrendered, without further incident, at 5:30 a.m. When officers entered the residence after the suspect’s surrender, they discovered a large amount of ammunition prepared at the bottom of a stairwell. The suspect, who had a prior criminal record including violent crime and drug charges, was charged with First-Degree Murder, Assault Causing Bodily Injury, and Fourth-Degree Theft.
On May 25 between 2 a.m. and 2:40 a.m., an off-duty officer with the Bardstown Police Department was ambushed while attempting to remove debris from a roadway. The 33-year-old officer, a veteran of law enforcement with 7 years of experience, finished his shift at 2 a.m. and was on his way home. The officer was still in uniform and wearing body armor when he exited his marked patrol vehicle to clear debris from an exit ramp. Someone fired a 12-gauge shotgun striking the officer. He suffered a fatal wound to the front of the head, as well as wounds to the side of his head and front upper torso/chest. Civilians found the slain officer around 2:40 a.m. and notified authorities. At the time this incident was reported to the FBI, the unknown assailant remained at large.
A sergeant with the Chitimacha Tribal Police Department was killed and two deputies with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office (SMPSO) were injured while investigating a suspicious person/circumstance shortly after 10 a.m. on January 26 in Charenton. The 52-year-old veteran sergeant, who had more than 15 years of law enforcement experience, received a call for assistance at 10:06 a.m. The request indicated a man was walking on the street carrying a gas can and a weapon, possibly firing the weapon at others. Nearby, a mobile home was on fire. The sergeant arrived on the scene in his patrol unit at 10:14 a.m., and pulled in near two deputies in a patrol unit from the SMPSO. The suspect had fired on the deputies in the patrol vehicle, and one of the deputies was backing the patrol vehicle away from the area. The sergeant and the deputies, who were all wearing body armor, stopped on the roadway, exited their vehicles, and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. During the exchange, all the officers were struck by rounds. The sergeant sustained injuries to the head, neck/throat, rear below the waist, and arms/hands. The suspect was also injured by gunfire. The wounded sergeant attempted to seek cover, but the suspect approached him and fired more rounds. The sergeant died at the scene from a fatal wound in the front of his head. Both SMPSO deputies were injured in the shooting and have since returned to duty. The wounded suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Prior to officers arriving on the scene, the suspect is believed to have set a mobile home on fire, threatened individuals, and discharged his weapon randomly. After firefighters extinguished the mobile home fire, investigators discovered the remains of an elderly male in the residence. The 48-year-old suspect, who was under conditional release at the time of the incident, had a prior criminal record including violent crimes and police assault. The suspect had a previous law enforcement relationship with the sergeant, and was known to suffer from a mental illness. Following treatment for his wounds, the suspect was charged with two counts of First-Degree Murder, two counts of Attempted First-Degree Murder, and Arson.
On August 28 at 5:21 a.m., a 36-year-old police officer with the Baltimore County Police Department was fatally wounded during a tactical situation in Catonsville. The tactical unit was serving a no-knock search and seizure warrant, which authorized officers to enter the residence without first knocking and announcing their presence and intention. The veteran officer, with more than 13 years of law enforcement experience, and his partner were the first team to enter the residence of a suspect wanted for attempted murder. Once inside, the officers loudly announced, “Police search warrant.” The officer’s partner noticed a subject rolling from the living room couch and scurrying on his hands and knees toward the kitchen. The officer pursued the subject and was able to pin him down on the kitchen floor with his ballistic shield. While the officer was securing the fleeing subject, his partner noticed a second subject at the top of a stairway and asked to see her hands. The subject’s hands were empty, and the partner turned to enter the kitchen where he heard gunfire. A third subject, who was hidden in a utility room adjacent to the kitchen, had opened fire with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, striking the officer already in the kitchen three times in his protective vest and once, fatally, in the rear lower torso/back just below his body armor. Although he was mortally wounded, the victim officer was able to fire seven rounds with his service weapon in the direction of the offender. The victim officer’s partner also fired his weapon, striking the 25-year-old offender once. The offender had prior arrests for Assault and Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute; he later died at an area hospital.
A police officer with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police was shot and killed in an ambush at 10:37 p.m. on April 18. The 27-year-old MIT officer had just over 1 year of law enforcement experience. As he sat in his marked patrol vehicle, one of two men approached the patrol vehicle and fired five rounds at the officer with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, striking him in the neck/throat and fatally in the front of his head. The 26-year-old suspect, who had a prior criminal record including violent crime, died in a separate incident. The 19-year-old suspect was arrested the next day and charged with Murder, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, four counts of Assault to Murder, two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and Attempt to Commit a Crime.
A trooper with the Michigan State Police, Hart Post, was fatally shot while conducting a traffic stop at 6:20 p.m. on September 9 in Sherman Township. The 43-year-old veteran trooper, who had 14 years of law enforcement experience, stopped a vehicle that contained two occupants. As the trooper approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, the driver fired a single shot with a .357-caliber revolver, striking the trooper in the front of his head. The trooper, who was wearing body armor, was instantly incapacitated. The offender and his passenger fled. Approximately 4 minutes later, a passerby found the trooper and called 911. The trooper was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he died as a result of the gunshot wound to his head. Meanwhile, the offender and his passenger went to a family member’s house and secured a ride to a location they had visited earlier in the day to look at a vehicle for sale. The offender and his passenger stole the vehicle and then transferred the weapons and other belongings to the stolen vehicle. The offenders’ original vehicle was then driven from the scene by a third party, but was recovered a short time later during a traffic stop. About 2 hours after the shooting, troopers discovered the suspects at a gas station approximately 20 miles away from the scene of the incident. When one trooper attempted to contact the offender in the gas station parking lot, the man ignored him and entered the store, where he ran to the back. He emerged from the rear of the store brandishing a handgun. After a short foot chase, during which the 19-year-old offender continued to ignore verbal commands, the trooper fired two rounds and struck him once in the knee. The man was arrested and charged with Murder of a Peace Officer, Motor Vehicle-Unlawful Driving Away, Felony Firearm Violation, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon. The passenger, who was the offender’s wife, was also arrested. The offender later stated that he knew he was going to shoot the trooper as soon as he was pulled over because he did not want to go to jail—he had a suspended driver’s license and there were weapons in his vehicle.
On April 4, a detective with the Jackson Police Department was shot and killed while interviewing a homicide suspect around 5:45 p.m. at police headquarters. A camera inside the interrogation room captured the incident on video. During his interview with two detectives, a homicide suspect became belligerent and engaged one of the detectives in a struggle. The 40-year-old detective was a veteran of law enforcement with nearly 18 years’ experience. As the two fell to the floor, the suspect managed to get the detective’s service weapon, a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. The other detective in the room fired a shot that missed the suspect. Then her service weapon malfunctioned, so she ran from the room to summon help. As the struggle continued, the suspect shot the detective once, rose to his feet, and fired three more rounds at the detective. The rounds hit the victim detective in his arms/hands and mortally wounded him in the front upper torso/chest. The 23-year-old assailant, who had a prior criminal record that included violent crime, then committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head.
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A sergeant with the Tupelo Police Department (TPD) was killed and a TPD officer was wounded while responding to a robbery in progress at a local bank around 3:20 p.m. on December 23. Both were veterans of law enforcement; the 38-year-old sergeant had more than 8 years of experience and the 27-year-old officer had 5 years of experience. Shortly after 3 p.m., a man wearing a face mask and armed with a handgun entered a bank. The man placed a wedge in the front door to prevent it from closing before entering the tellers’ area through an employees-only door. The man directed the bank tellers to back away as he filled a black bag with cash from the tellers’ drawers. An undisclosed amount of money was taken. The suspect then exited through the same employee door, stopped to retrieve the wedge used to prop the front door open, and fled from the bank’s parking lot in a gray sedan. The sergeant and the officer responded to the alarm at the bank and to a report that the suspect had fled in a white sport utility vehicle (SUV). While en route to the bank, the officers observed a white SUV stalled in traffic and stopped to address the driver. While the officers talked to the driver of the SUV, the suspect exited his gray sedan that was stopped behind the white SUV and fired six rounds at the officers with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. The sergeant fired his service weapon, but was fatally wounded when the suspect fired a round that entered through the armhole/shoulder area of the sergeant’s body armor and pierced his front upper torso/chest. The officer was also struck, and injured in the back of the head. The suspect re-entered his vehicle and fled the scene. At this time, the suspect’s identity and whereabouts were unknown. Law enforcement officials released bank surveillance photos of the suspect and the vehicle to the public.
As the investigation developed, the suspect was linked to an attempted bank robbery in Atlanta, Georgia, that had occurred earlier the same day. The bank robbery in Atlanta had been unsuccessful, but the suspect had robbed a customer at an ATM in the vestibule of the bank before fleeing in a gray sedan. On December 26, the FBI established a tip line for the case and announced a financial reward was available for information leading to the identification and capture of the subject. On December 28, the suspect attempted to rob another bank in Phoenix, Arizona. As officers responded to the call, the suspect immediately engaged the first uniformed patrol officer on scene by firing his weapon at the patrol vehicle while the officer was still inside. A second responding officer shot and justifiably killed the suspect. Further investigation revealed that the suspect committed all three robberies in Atlanta, Tupelo, and Phoenix. The 40-year-old suspect, who was on probation at the time of the incident, had a prior criminal record. At the time this incident was reported to the FBI, the injured officer had not returned to duty.
As a result of complications from injuries sustained on December 5, 2006, a police officer with the Buffalo Police Department died on February 2, 2013. At the time of the incident, the 41-year-old veteran officer, with 6 years of law enforcement experience, was responding to a disturbance call with her law enforcement partner just after 9 p.m. When they attempted to question an 18-year-old subject, he produced a .38-caliber revolver and fired five rounds. The victim officer was shot in the front upper torso/chest and in the neck/throat above her body armor, paralyzing her and causing complications that resulted in her death. Her partner also sustained a nonfatal gunshot wound to the head area. The suspect was arrested and charged with Attempted First-Degree Murder and Criminal Possession of Weapon.
A 31-year-old sergeant investigator with the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) was fatally shot while executing a narcotics warrant on December 19 near Somerville as part of the BCSO’s SWAT team. The 10-year veteran of law enforcement had obtained information that an individual was conducting a marijuana growing operation inside his residence. The sergeant secured a search warrant which contained a no-knock provision. At 5:50 a.m., officers entered the residence not knowing that their presence had been compromised. The sergeant led the entry team into the house and was met with gunfire. The sergeant, who was wearing body armor, was struck three times with rounds from a .308-caliber semiautomatic rifle in his front upper torso/chest, the front lower torso/stomach, the rear upper torso/back, the front below his waist, and fatally in the side of his head. Officers retreated from the residence and sought cover. The officers shouted orders from outside the residence, and the 28-year-old suspect surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident. The suspect later advised that he retrieved his rifle when he heard noises made by the team before they entered the residence. The suspect informed investigators that he heard his girlfriend scream and saw a person dressed in black and armed with a rifle enter his residence. He denied any knowledge that the person was a law enforcement officer and claimed not to have heard officers make any type of announcement before or while entering. The suspect had a prior criminal record including drug violations and weapons violations. Evidence suggested he was a marijuana user and dealer. The suspect was charged with Capital Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer and Possession of Marijuana. A grand jury indicted the suspect on a Possession of Marijuana charge, but failed to find probable cause to indict the suspect on the Capital Murder charge.
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Around 10:45 a.m. on June 28, a 38-year-old sergeant with the Hood County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) was fatally wounded while responding to a disturbance call. Approximately 10:30 a.m., the HCSO dispatched units to a residence in Granbury. A suspect awaiting trial on sexual assault charges was outside of the residence of his alleged victim. A protective order had previously been filed against the suspect, and the owner of the residence contacted the sheriff’s office for assistance. The veteran sergeant, who had nearly 7 years of law enforcement experience, arrived at the scene first. He exited his vehicle and ordered the man to come to the patrol unit. When the suspect reached the vehicle, he produced a .45‑caliber revolver and shot the sergeant, who was wearing body armor, in the rear and side of his head. The suspect then fired at the alleged victim’s family members standing on the front porch of the residence. The home owner retrieved his firearm from inside the residence and fired at the suspect as he drove away in his van, shattering at least one of the van’s windows. A deputy arrived at the scene and found several people gathered around the sergeant’s vehicle. A man approached the deputy and told him that the sergeant had been shot. The deputy located the sergeant lying on the ground unconscious, but breathing, and requested an ambulance. The people gathered there provided the deputy with the name of the suspect and a description of his van. The deputy relayed the descriptive information over the radio to local law enforcement. The sheriff and a lieutenant with the HCSO were in a marked vehicle headed toward the scene when they noticed a van matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle headed in the opposite direction. They turned around and activated their vehicle’s lights and sirens. Before they caught up to the van, units with the Granbury Police Department and Texas Highway Patrol also pulled behind the van with their lights and sirens activated. The sheriff and lieutenant were followed by another police vehicle driven by a deputy from Hood County. The suspect continued onto a street that led to the city hall parking lot, where he parked the van. The officers stopped and exited their vehicles, each using their vehicle or a nearby concrete wall for cover. The suspect exited the van and began firing at the officers with a rifle. Officers returned gunfire, but from the suspect’s reaction, it appeared to the sheriff that he was wearing protective gear. The sheriff shot the suspect in the head, and he fell to the ground. The 49-year-old offender died at the scene. He was under supervision at the time of the incident and had a criminal record that included violent crime. The victim sergeant was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died the next day from the wound to the side of his head.
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A police officer with the Killeen Police Department (KPD) was fatally wounded and another officer was injured during a tactical situation on July 13. At 11:40 p.m., a resident at an apartment complex called 911 to report a man causing a disturbance. The caller said the man exited his apartment with a weapon, walked to the pool area, threatened people in the pool, and returned to his apartment. Officers arrived at the apartment complex and found a male inside his apartment holding a rifle in a threatening manner. At 11:56 p.m., the Tactical Response Unit was deployed to the scene. Tactical officers were attempting to speak to the man when he fired a shot. Then the man came to the door with his hands up, but he failed to come outside. The officers attempted to take the man into custody, but he backed into his apartment, armed himself with a 7.62x39 mm semiautomatic rifle, and began shooting at the officers. A 32-year-old officer with nearly 5 years of law enforcement experience was struck in the rear upper torso/back, in the arms/hands, and fatally in the neck/throat area. The officer was wearing body armor, but the rounds exceeded the vest’s specifications. He succumbed to his injuries on July 14. A 33-year-old officer with more than 10 years of law enforcement experience was struck and injured in the front below the waist. The KPD SWAT team returned fire and killed the 24-year-old assailant, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. At the time this incident was reported to the FBI, the wounded officer had not returned to duty.
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A 31-year-old officer with the San Antonio Police Department died on December 20 from a gunshot wound he sustained while responding to a robbery in the early morning hours of December 8. The veteran officer, who had more than 7 years of law enforcement experience and was wearing body armor, was parked in his patrol vehicle on a highway ramp south of the location of a reported robbery when the suspect vehicle with two occupants passed him. The officer followed the vehicle and advised dispatch that he would wait for back up before he attempted to stop the suspect vehicle. When there were several patrol vehicles behind him, the officer turned on his emergency lights in an attempt to stop the fleeing vehicle. The suspects accelerated to speeds up to 100 miles per hour. During the chase, at least one of the suspects began shooting at the officer’s vehicle. Approximately 2:10 a.m., the suspect vehicle slowed down, reducing the space between the officer’s vehicle and the suspects’ vehicle. One suspect fired a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, striking the windshield of the officer’s pursuing vehicle. The round passed through the windshield and struck the officer in the front of his head. The officer’s vehicle veered off the road and came to a stop in trees and brush. His fellow officers stopped pursuit in order to render aid to the victim officer. The officer died as a result of his injury 12 days later. After shooting the officer, the suspects continued to flee. They were eventually pursued by officers of the Poth Police Department, who exchanged gunfire with both occupants of the vehicle. The suspects got out of the vehicle and fled into some brush. The suspects did not comply with commands to show their hands, so a K-9 service dog was released. Subsequently, a 32-year-old male who was a known drug dealer with a criminal record that includes police assault, drug violations, and weapons violations, was arrested along with a 28-year-old female. Both were charged with Capital Murder, Aggravated Robbery, and Evading.
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On June 14, a 30-year-old police officer with the Texarkana Police Department was fatally injured while responding to a disturbance call. Shortly before 1 a.m., the officer, a 6-year veteran of law enforcement, was dispatched to a parking lot where a fight was reported and a large crowd had gathered. The officer was wearing his patrol uniform, including body armor. Moments later, after exiting his patrol unit, the officer was struck by a vehicle. He received severe injuries to the rear and side of his head, as well as to the front below the waist and front upper torso/chest. A 21-year-old man suspected of driving the vehicle that struck the officer was arrested later that day and initially charged with Aggravated Assault Against a Public Servant. The officer was flown to a hospital where he died from his injuries on June 15.
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A deputy sheriff with the Upton County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) was killed while investigating a suspicious person around 11:15 p.m. on October 2 in McComey. The 37-year-old deputy, a veteran with 14 years of law enforcement experience, and a second UCSO deputy responded to a report that a suspicious vehicle had been parked at a convenience store for more than 4 hours. The deputies approached the vehicle and found the driver asleep at the wheel. The deputies woke the driver and asked for his identification, then returned to their police units. When the deputies ran the vehicle’s license plate, it was listed as stolen. As the deputies returned to the suspect, the suspect exited the vehicle and fired rounds at close range from a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. An exchange of gunfire ensued, during which one deputy was fatally wounded in the front upper torso/chest. The second deputy did not sustain any injuries. The 51-year-old suspect, who was injured by gunfire, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer with a Deadly Weapon. The suspect had a criminal record that included violent crime, police assault, drug violations, and weapons violations. He was on parole at the time of the incident.
Just before 6 a.m. on September 1, a 32-year-old sergeant with the Draper City Police Department was fatally wounded during an ambush. The sergeant, a veteran with nearly 10 years of law enforcement experience, was returning to the police station to turn in paperwork at the end of his shift when he noticed a disabled vehicle parked at an odd angle. The sergeant stopped his marked patrol vehicle to offer assistance. When he rolled down the window to speak with a male subject, the man produced a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and shot the sergeant. The round entered the armhole of the sergeant’s body armor and struck him fatally in the front upper torso/chest. The victim sergeant accelerated his patrol vehicle while the suspect continued to fire at him, shooting out the sergeant’s back window. Before the sergeant lost control of the vehicle, hit a nearby tree, and lost consciousness, he was able to use the radio to call out, “Shots fired!” The suspect also allegedly shot his female companion. The 35-year-old suspect had a criminal record including arrests for drug violations. He was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the incident. He was charged with Aggravated Murder, Attempted Aggravated Murder, and Discharge of Weapon by Restricted Person.
The sheriff with the Mingo County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) was shot and killed in an ambush as he sat in his marked vehicle in a parking lot eating lunch shortly after noon on April 3. A man approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and engaged the 59-year-old veteran sheriff, who had more than 7 years of law enforcement experience, in a conversation. The man then produced a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and fired twice, striking the sheriff once in the front of the head and once in the side of the head, killing him instantly. The 37-year-old offender then fled the scene in a vehicle he had parked nearby. A short time later, a corporal in the MCSO encountered the offender in a nearby community. The corporal forced the offender to stop his vehicle. When the offender produced a weapon, the corporal fired his duty weapon and struck the offender nine times. The offender was airlifted to a nearby hospital and survived his wounds. He was known to suffer from a mental illness, had a prior criminal record, and was reported to have had a previous non-law enforcement relationship with the victim sheriff. The offender was charged with First-Degree Murder.
