Civilian employee shot in eye on burglary call; Fort Worth police arrest suspect
A suspect is in custody after a civilian police employee was shot in the eye while responding to a burglary call, which led to a major police presence and manhunt Tuesday near Basswood Boulevard and North Riverside Drive in north Fort Worth.
The wounded employee, who was hit with shrapnel in his left eye, is recovering at a hospital and is expected to be OK, officials said.
“The suspect is now in custody related to the shooting that occurred earlier today,” police said in a social media post shortly after 6 p.m. “Thank you to everyone for your support and patience.”
Police identified the suspect as 39-year-old Angel Cantu. He faces three counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and a parole violation charge, according to Tarrant County Jail records. No bond amount had been set as of Thursday morning.
On Tuesday afternoon, a neighborhood and nearby schools were locked down as police searched for the suspect, who was believed to on foot and armed with a rifle.
At one point, the shooter was thought to be barricaded inside a house across the street from the scene of the initial call in the 3500 block of North Juliet Lane, but Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a news conference about 2:30 p.m. that the suspect was no longer there. Officers exchanged gunfire with the man, and it was unknown whether he was injured, Garcia said.
Residents who live in the Summerfields subdivision located to the north of Basswood and North Riverside were asked to stay securely indoors during the search. Schools in the area were on lockdown for hours but released students to their parents late Tuesday afternoon, according to Keller ISD.
The civilian employee had responded alone about 11:40 a.m. to take a burglary report when Cantu, who was across the street, began shooting at him with a rifle, police said. The employee radioed for backup and police officers responded, Garcia said. The suspect then opened fire on police, and officers returned fire, he said. No further injuries to officers were reported.
Officers saw the suspect flee back inside his house, and a short time later, he ran out the back door and hopped over the fence, police said in a news release.
Mayor Mattie Parker told KTVT-TV that the Civilian Response Unit employee “is miraculously doing well.” Parker said the injured man was in stable condition and talking while waiting for ophthalmology care.
A spokesperson for John Peter Smith Hospital who spoke to the Star-Telegram confirmed Parker’s account.
The injured employee’s name has not been released. Garcia said he visited the employee at JPS Hospital before speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“Before I came on scene, I went to the hospital,” Garcia said. “Our CRU member is in stable condition, he was talking, he was moving, and by the grace of God, with prayers, he’ll be OK.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies including Fort Worth SWAT officers were on scene searching for the suspect. Police asked residents to avoid the area, and several roadblocks were in place.
Cantu, who was shirtless, was arrested about 5:40 p.m. when he was spotted coming out of a wooded area near Riverside and Brittany Place, police said. Officers found the weapon they believe he used in the shooting.
Cantu has a previous conviction for a 2019 robbery in which he injured the victim by striking him with a weedeater, according to Tarrant County court documents. He was sentenced to three years in prison in the case.
Schools released from lockdown
North Riverside Elementary, Fossil Hill Middle School, Basswood Elementary and Vista Ridge Middle School went into lockdown shortly after noon following the shooting, according to a Keller ISD spokesperson. North Riverside went into a shelter in place lockdown for about 45 minutes, and the other three had instruction continue as normal, but no students were let outside the building and no one was allowed in. North Riverside later went into the same lockdown as the other three schools.
“Local schools… will remain in lockdown for the foreseeable future until we deem it safe for individuals to walk home from school. As we continue to search, streets in the area are obviously going to be closed as well as we believe we have a suspect that is at large,” Garcia said at the afternoon press conference.
In an update at 3:47 p.m., Keller ISD said students were being released to their parents before severe storms began. “All schools under a secure lockout will initiate dismissal beginning immediately, including Fossil Hill and Vista Ridge,” district officials said on social media. “Fort Worth PD will not allow buses to run and drop students off at bus stops, so all parents must come to the campus to pick up students. Students will not be released to walk or ride their bikes home without a parent or guardian.”
“FWPD is watching the weather and is asking parents to pick up students by 4:15 p.m. in the event inclement weather enters the area,” the school district said. “Students not picked up by 4:15 p.m. will remain at school until inclement weather passes. Please know that the 4:15 p.m. time may be adjusted based on weather forecasts.”
Resident Maritza Santos has grandchildren at two affected schools and said she was worried about why the schools were being reopened to release kids if the suspect hadn’t been caught.
“I’m scared now because my son is walking to take my grandchildren” from the schools, she said.
Santos said her son was at home earlier and he was about to get into his car to drive to school and have lunch with his daughter when he heard gunfire in the neighborhood. An officer told him to go inside his house and as he was running, he saw someone shooting at the police, she said.
What is the Civilian Response Unit?
According to the Fort Worth Police Department’s website, employees who are part of the Civilian Response Unit are unarmed and are not certified peace officers.
“The Civilian Response Unit was formed in 2021 in response to the Police Department’s desire to provide the citizens of the city with better service, along with the realization that every call for service does not require a police officer to respond,” the website states. “These civilian employees are not armed and do not respond to calls where a suspect is on the scene or likely to return. Their role is to investigate calls, collect evidence (including fingerprinting) and write police reports.”
Common types of calls that the Civilian Response Unit investigates are burglary, assault by threat, criminal mischief, fraud, harassment, theft and information-only reports, according to the department’s website.
Star-Telegram staff writers Shambhavi Rimal and Samuel O’Neal contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 1:01 PM.
