ARLINGTON -- Arlington police and the family of George Hawkins hope that the passage of two years since the newlywed postal worker's shooting death will prompt tipsters who might have been reluctant at the time to share information.
Hawkins, 52, was fatally shot at about 8 a.m. Oct. 26, 2010, as he walked his dog at the Sutter Creek apartments in the 2200 block of Elmwood Drive in east Arlington.Police do not believe that robbery was a motive. They also found no connection between Hawkins' death and other shootings in the area, including one six months earlier at almost the same spot.Homicide Detective Lisa Wade said Thursday that police received a promising tip early on but that it "wasn't thorough enough and we've carried it through as far as we can."Investigators continue to pursue leads, she said, but still lack the information they need to identify the shooter."There may be people who saw something either before, during or after," Wade said. "They may not even know that it's related, but perhaps they've been afraid [of coming forward]. I know some people in the apartment complex were afraid when it happened. But two years have gone by, and hopefully they feel safer now. And they can do it anonymously."As for whether Hawkins might have known his assailant, Wade said that "it doesn't appear that there was a close relationship between the two."For the second time in this case, Oak Farms Dairy is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.Hawkins' widow, Vatrice Hawkins, went before TV news cameras Thursday at police headquarters to plead with the public to help solve the crime."We need closure in the family. We need justice," she said, fighting back tears. "We need the person arrested so that he can be dealt with."The anniversary of her husband's death "is not an easy day for us," she said. "We want him back. We want our Sundays back and our holidays back, but we're never going to get them back."But we can find who did this to George so we can have rest and we can move on."Patrick M. Walker, 817-983-8080Twitter: @patrickmwalker1
What to do
Anyone with information about George Hawkins' death is asked to call Arlington homicide Detective Lisa Wade at 817-459-5325 or Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
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