Page:Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002.djvu/61

 began shooting at the officers through the door and walls. The detective, who was wearing body armor at the time of the attack, was wounded in the chest when a bullet from a .357-caliber revolver entered through the right armhole of the vest. He was carried by officers to safety where he received initial medical aid and then was transported to a local medical center. While some of the officers exchanged gunfire with the alleged assailant, deputies entered the residence with a K-9 police dog and arrested two men. One suspect, a 45-year-old male who was a known narcotics dealer and who had an extensive history of arrests for drug- and alcohol-related offenses, was charged with First-Degree Murder and Convicted Felon in Possession of a Handgun. The officers subsequently determined that the second man was not an offender but was only a witness who was present in the residence at the time of the incident. The victim detective underwent two emergency surgeries but died at the hospital about 8 p.m.


 * TEXAS

A 37-year-old captain with the White Settlement Police Department was fatally shot at 1:15 p.m. on April 24. He and an investigator were backing up other officers responding to a domestic disturbance call involving an armed suspect. When the captain, a 16-year veteran to law enforcement, and the investigator arrived at the residence, the investigator remained in front of the suspect's house, and the captain went around the house and positioned himself in the backyard. As the suspect exited the house with a semiautomatic handgun, the captain entered the house through the backdoor. Officers in front of the house ordered the man to drop his gun and get on the ground. The man refused and returned to his house. A short time later, officers heard several shots from inside the house. Moments later, the captain came through the front door and collapsed. Officers rushed to the captain's aid, removed him from the scene, and attempted to treat his wounds. The captain suffered four gunshot wounds to the chest and one each in the shoulder and left arm from the suspect's .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. He was taken to a local hospital where he died of the chest wounds during surgery. Officers attempted to contact the suspect, but received no response. A SWAT team took over the scene and attempted to establish contact with the suspect, also to no avail. After obtaining a search warrant, the SWAT team entered the house and found the 68-year-old male dead from seven gunshot wounds received in the exchange of gunfire with the victim officer.

A sergeant with the Limestone County Sheriff's Office serving on an auto theft task force was killed about 3:40 p.m. on May 2 in an ambush as he and other officers were preparing to investigate stolen farm equipment on a property near Shive. The 34-year-old officer, with 12 years of law enforcement experience, was among other officers getting permission for the search from a woman at the house when he was fatally shot in the chest. A shot from a .25-06-caliber bolt-action rifle came from the direction of a barn behind the house. Gunfire trapped two officers in the house until a male ran into the woods behind the house. Officers began to set up a search area to look for the individual whom they suspected fired the shots. Two officers — one with the Department of Public Safety and one with the Lampasas County Sheriff's Office — were shot and wounded at about 5:45 p.m. as they were setting up a perimeter around the search area. The victim sergeant and the injured officers were taken from the scene in an armored car. More than 75 officers from several law enforcement agencies searched for the man using tracking dogs and helicopters. Just before 9 a.m. on May 3, officers found the body of the 34-year-old man lying within the perimeter. On parole for felony theft, he had apparently shot himself near some trees on the property.

A sergeant with the City of Andrews Department of Public Safety's drug task force died of injuries sustained at 9:30 a.m. on May 16 while confronting an individual aboard a long-distance commercial bus in Pecos. The 38-year-old sergeant, with more than 9 years of experience in law enforcement, boarded the bus with two other officers to conduct a routine drug interdiction operation. The sergeant walked to the back of the bus and began questioning a man who, unknown to officials at the time, was a wanted felon. The man drew a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun and fired twice at the victim officer at close range, striking him in the back and fatally in the chest. The other officers fired three shots at the suspect, striking and killing him. The victim officer was transported to a local hospital and then to a Lubbock hospital where he died of his injuries about 8 hours later. The 19-year-old suspect, who was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the incident, had several prior arrests, including Evading Arrest-Detention and Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury.

A 34-year-old police officer with the Beaumont Police Department died of head injuries after he was intentionally struck by a vehicle while responding to a domestic dispute call on September 6 just after 11 p.m. The officer, who had nearly 12 years of law enforcement experience, responded to the call with another officer. Apparently, a man had sexually assaulted his girlfriend and attacked the girl's father with a baseball bat, causing a severe head wound. When emergency medical service (EMS) personnel arrived at the scene, the suspect assaulted them by punching through a window in the ambulance and using the bat to smash the ambulance's windshield. Upon arrival, the initial responding officer exited his vehicle and walked along the road toward the ambulance and the EMS workers. As the officer approached them, the suspect, who had gotten into his car, struck the victim officer with the vehicle in spite of the officer's efforts to elude the speeding vehicle. The officer sustained fatal fractures to the back of the head. Then, the suspect drove the car into the ambulance, injuring the girlfriend's father and the EMS personnel who were treating him. The suspect, aged 23, was immediately taken into custody by other responding officers, arrested, and charged with Capital Murder, Sexual Assault, and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

A patrol officer with the Ferris Police Department was gunned down just before 3 p.m. on October 6 after responding to a disturbance call regarding a