‘Don’t grab it:’ Video shows officer shoot armed man inside dark Fort Worth motel room
A police officer shot a man inside a Fort Worth motel room this week three seconds after the officer walked through its door, according to body-camera video of a portion of the encounter the city’s police department released Thursday.
The man was shot when he pointed a gun at the Fort Worth officer, the department has said. He left a suicide note earlier in the day and had a pistol, the officer and at least two others who went to the motel about 2 p.m. Tuesday were told.
As he approached on a sidewalk the first-floor room that faces an empty swimming pool, an officer held a gun, the video shows. He appeared to slide a card to unlock the door of the Express Inn room in the 8400 block of the West Freeway service road.
The officer, wearing plainclothes beneath a ballistic vest, entered the dark room, turned to his left and began to speak before he stopped short.
“No, no, no,” the officer said. “Gun!”
The department has said the man pointed a gun at the officer. The video was recorded from a camera on the body of an officer standing behind the officer who fired, and the segment the department released does not show the suicidal man.
The officer fired six rounds, and the man moaned.
“Don’t grab it,” the officer says three times as the 20-second video ends.
The man, who is 59 and white, had surgery, and was in critical but stable condition on Thursday at a hospital, police said. The department did not release his name.
The department placed the officer on administrative leave, a standard practice. It did not release his name. The department’s major case and internal affairs units are investigating, and the case will be referred to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office law enforcement incident team for review.
The department has said its mental health crisis intervention team, whose officers are trained in interacting with people who are dealing with mental illness problems, responded to the call.
It was the first time a Fort Worth police officer has shot a person since Oct. 12, when an officer shot to death Atatiana Jefferson, 28. She had been babysitting her 8-year-old nephew at her mother’s house in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue when she heard noises outside. A neighbor had called the police because he became worried after seeing the doors of the home open.
Thinking there was a prowler in the yard, Jefferson grabbed her gun, looked out of a bedroom window as she held it and was shot by a police officer seconds later, according to an arrest warrant filed in the case.
Jefferson, who was Black, was shot by Aaron Dean, a white police officer who resigned and was indicted on a murder charge.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 5:09 PM.
