Injured Fort Worth police employee details moment routine call turned violent
When Edward Zapata was shot in the eye while responding to a burglary call in north Fort Worth on April 28, it was not the first time he had come under enemy fire.
The 30-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps had been shot once before during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a moment for which he was later awarded the Purple Heart, he told members of the media on Wednesday.
Zapata, who now serves as a specialist in the Fort Worth Police Department’s Civilian Response Unit, was taking a report from a resident in the 3500 block of Juliet Lane when police say 39-year-old Angel Cantu opened fire on him from across the street.
“We were just talking, and one of the final questions was about surveillance cameras,” Zapata said. “We both were looking in that direction, and that’s when the first shot was fired.”
At that moment, Zapata’s years of experience in the Marines kicked in, and he started handling business, he said.
“I got [the resident] between the two houses, I started communicating my unit number to dispatch and hit the panic button at the same time as I was trying to give a description of the individual,” Zapata said. “I guess that’s when I got hit.”
Even with his left eye wounded and bleeding heavily, Zapata’s focus then shifted to the resident he had been assisting, he said. He shielded the resident from further gunfire as they both scaled a fence to get back into her home.
“All my focus and effort was on her and getting her to safety,” Zapata said. “It wasn’t about me anymore — it was about her and me getting over the fence.”
Once inside the house, Zapata could hear officers continuing to exchange gunfire with Cantu as help arrived to take him to the hospital. Cantu later fled into a wooded area, setting off an hourslong manhunt and sending area schools into lockdown as police searched for him near Basswood Boulevard and North Riverside Drive.
Zapata spent three days at John Peter Smith Hospital receiving ophthalmologic care for his injuries.
Doctors found fragments of the round still embedded in the area around Zapata’s eye, he said. For now, those fragments have been left in place to allow the eye wound to heal, and doctors are hoping to remove them at a later date.
“As each of the appointments come up and we go through them, I get a better idea of how the road to recovery is going to be,” Zapata said. Long-term, though, it’s still unclear what Zapata’s vision will be like once the injured eye has healed.
The response from both the community and the Fort Worth Police Department has been “phenomenal” from the start, Zapata said. Staff and officers helped Zapata’s wife and sons get to the hospital on the day of the shooting, and have “constantly” been calling to check in.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Police Chief Eddie Garcia, City Councilman Charles Lauersdorf and Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn were among those who visited Zapata while he was hospitalized. Zapata was escorted home last Friday by a police motorcade.
“There are not enough thanks to go around to this department,” Zapata said. “I appreciate all the support they gave me throughout that week in the hospital.”
As for his work, Zapata intends to continue serving in the Civilian Response Unit as soon as he is able, he said. He did the exact same thing after being wounded in Iraq in 2003.
“My hope is to come back and wear the civilian response uniform, and get back out there and continue to serve the community and help as much as I can,” Zapata said. “Serving is all I care about. It’s all I ever thought about doing.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:59 PM.
