Accidental shooting, workers’ comp claim emerge in Tarrant County sheriff’s race

Former Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill Waybourn boasts he has taught concealed handgun license classes to more than 20,000 people since it became law in 1996.

In some instances he taught “outreach” classes in his official capacity as police chief.

During one class in June 2013, Waybourn was accidentally shot in the right hand while teaching an Arlington doctor at a Tarrant County gun range. His injury required surgery that was paid for through a workers’ comp claim, a decision that city officials made.

“I took myself completely out of that decision-making,” Waybourn said in a recent interview. “I wasn’t involved with it and said, ‘Whatever is right, we’ll do.’ ”

News of the shooting flew mostly under the radar but has surfaced as Waybourn makes a run for Tarrant County sheriff against incumbent Dee Anderson.

An anonymous letter that was sent to numerous media organizations, including the Star-Telegram, raised ethical questions about the workers’ comp claim. Waybourn has said he believes that the letter came out of “Anderson’s camp” — an assertion that Anderson denied Thursday.

“We’ve always run a positive campaign and will continue to do so,” Anderson said.

Waybourn told the Star-Telegram that the accidental discharge occurred as he trained the doctor under a city-approved outreach program.

Two days after the shooting, in which his right hand was injured, Waybourn checked “yes” on a city form that asked if he was doing his regular job. The form, called Employers First Report of Injury or Illness, is the first step toward filing a workers’ comp claim.

Dalworthington Gardens City Attorney Jim Jeffrey confirmed that there had been an understanding — but no written policy — between the City Council and Waybourn that the chief could provide concealed handgun classes as a community service.

“When the report of injury came in, the question of whether he was covered under workers’ compensation came up,” Jeffrey said. “My position is if he was on an approved city activity and this was reported to the workers’ comp carrier, it would be up to the carrier to decide whether to provide workers’ comp coverage.”

On Wednesday night, after weeks of dodging calls from the Star-Telegram, Dalworthington Gardens Mayor Mike Tedder invited reporters who had made inquiries about Waybourn to a City Council meeting to address their questions.

Asked about Waybourn and the outreach program, Tedder said, “I do not believe we had a policy referring to that at this time.”

On Thursday, Dalworthington Gardens Alderman Ed Motley told the Star-Telegram that if a written policy existed, it preceded the roughly half a dozen years that he’s been on the council.

Still, Motley said, the council was aware that Waybourn was conducting the classes and permitted him to use city facilities for the classroom training.

“I don’t know that I would characterize it as city-sanctioned,” Motley said. “We allowed Bill to conduct the classes and we allowed him to use our facility. … It wasn’t done under the city’s name.”

Motley said that if the city attorney considered the time Waybourn spent on the class as on-duty, “then I’m OK with it.”

‘Close to 1,000 people’

Waybourn said that the outreach program was a public relations effort made by the city and that the outreach classes were separate from other concealed handgun license programs that he has conducted for profit.

“Nobody was charged for them,” he said.

He said he’s taught “probably close to 1,000 people” over the last 15 to 20 years under the city’s outreach efforts. Some, he said, have been taught in large class settings and others, like with the Arlington doctor, were one on one.

Those selected for the outreach program often include people doing business in Dalworthington Gardens, residents and specialty groups like teachers or police officers’ wives, he said.

Dalworthington Gardens is a city of 2,300 that sits north of Interstate 20, next to Pantego and Arlington.

Cindy Simmons, the doctor whom Waybourn had been training the day he was shot, told the Star-Telegram she had sought his help.

“I’ve known Bill for many years. We have a professional relationship though public service duties and activities. I knew that he would teach classes to I sought his assistance in getting my concealed handgun license,” Simmons said.

Waybourn said Simmons served as medical director for Arlington and handled protocols for AMR, Dalworthington Garden’s ambulance service.

Simmons said that while she has no knowledge of whether the city approved her training, she did not pay Waybourn for it nor was payment ever discussed. She completed the classroom portion of the training at the city’s Public Safety building.

“He has offered this as a service to multiple groups and individuals to my knowledge,” Simmons said.

Waybourn said that if elected, he would “still be open” to teaching the “outreach” classes as sheriff, though likely not as frequently.

While a spokeswoman with the Texas Police Chiefs Association said there is no list of departments that offer free concealed handgun classes, Dalworhington Gardens does not appear to be alone. For example, the coastal city of Aransas Pass and the small Central Texas town of Thrall have offered classes to residents.

‘Thought the gun had blown up’

Waybourn said the shooting occurred after the doctor’s gun “stovepiped” — a term used for when a round does not completely eject, as the two trained at the Firearms Training Fort Worth gun range, south of Kennedale.

He said he was preparing to demonstrate how to clear the gun when a brass piece suddenly popped out on its own and the gun’s slide slammed forward, loading a live round and discharging it.

“I thought the gun had blown up in my hand because my hand was nowhere near the trigger,” Waybourn recalled.

Simmons notified gun range owner Bill Carlton about the shooting. The pair then administered first aid to Waybourn before Simmons drove him to Arlington MCA hospital for further treatment.

Waybourn said he notified his wife, and a corporal and the department’s deputy chief about what had occurred.

He said the deputy chief, in turn, notified the mayor and the city attorney.

He said an incident report was made but was unsure if it was still in Dalworthington Garden’s computer system.

He said he ultimately underwent two surgeries as a result of his injury but does not know the medical costs associated with those surgeries.

A spokesman for the Texas Insurance Department said the agency could not confirm whether such a claim was made and how much was paid, citing confidentiality laws.

Jeffrey said he has no knowledge of the city requiring concealed handgun trainees to sign liability waivers and wouldn’t speculate if the city’s sovereign immunity would have been in jeopardy if the student had been shot rather than Waybourn.

He said the policy of allowing Waybourn to teach concealed handgun classes wasn’t questioned after the accidental shooting.

Motley said he had not previously considered, nor had the council discussed in his presence, whether Waybourn’s classes could have posed a liability to the city.

“In retrospect, maybe so. It never occurred to me before,” Motley said.

He said that if the city’s new police chief expressed interest in holding such classes on city time, “it might be something we’d want to talk about.”

Simmons said she believes that allegations that Waybourn may have committed some type of fraud in filing for workers’ comp “is an attempted assault on Bill Waybourn.”

‘Every day was a holiday’

Waybourn retired as chief of Dalworthington Gardens in September.

The Star-Telegram filed public information requests with the city seeking information about the workers’ comp claim, his separation agreement with the city and a consulting contract he was given after retiring.

The city, in turn, requested an opinion from the state attorney general but turned over two of the documents — the separation agreement and consulting contract — on Tuesday.

The Star-Telegram also obtained copies of all three documents from a source familiar with Dalworthington Gardens and Waybourn. The source is not being identified for fear of retaliation.

At Wednesday night’s council meeting, Tedder stated before a packed City Council meeting that “our city has been innudated with open records requests regarding things that are not appropriate or are not within our scope.”

As part of his separation agreement, Dalworthington Gardens agreed to pay Waybourn $117,000 as “full and final payment for any accumulated sick leave, vacation time or personal compensatory leave.”

Dalworthington Gardens also agreed to pay Waybourn a $75,000 consulting fee in three $25,000 installments, with the last payment paid on Monday.

“When I was leaving the mayor came to me and said, ‘Listen, you are leaving with 31 years as chief; you’ve got a lot of institutional knowledge and we want to keep you for the next 18 months around,’ ” Waybourn said.

Waybourn said he believes he left Dalworthington Gardens under good terms.

“Every day was a holiday and every meal was a banquet,” he said.

Tedder would not answer questions about whether Waybourn had ever been the subject of an internal investigation or external investigation.

“When allegations have been received, whether involving current or former employees, such matters have been appropriately evaluated or investigated,” Tedder said. “To the extent these matters could have been handled internally, the city has addressed them. To the matters that need to be handled externally, with the help of counsel, we’ve turned information over to the appropriate authorirites based on the jurisdictions. These agencies include the sheriff’s office, the district attorney’s office or Texas Rangers.”

Councilman Guy Snodgrass clarified later in the meeting Wednesday that “there has not been any internal investigation of Chief Waybourn.”

“Any rumors or accusations against the chief — you can take it to the bank that they are from people who don’t want him to be elected,” Snodgrass said.

Motley also said Thursday that to his knowledge, no internal or external investigations have been conducted, or called for, against Waybourn.

Motley praised Waybourn him for his leadership, including being in the forefront of DWI “no-refusals” campaigns, where court orders for blood draws are obtained for suspected drunken drivers if they refuse a breath test.

“I’ve always been an advocate for Bill Waybourn,” Motley said. “I’ve not heard other council members say anything to the contrary.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Accidental shooting, workers’ comp claim emerge in Tarrant County sheriff’s race."