Fallen Fort Worth Officer Memorialized At Vigil Outside Police Headquarters
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A heartbroken police department says it will not let one of its own die in vain.
The Fort Worth Police Department says it lit candles in an act of defiance Wednesday night for Officer Garrett Hull to show darkness wouldn't win.
Hull was killer in an undercover sting, trying to stop violent robbers who had been terrorizing Fort Worth's Southside.
The widow of Officer Hull lit a candle, as the Fort Worth Police Department put it, to show that light drives out the dark and that good beats out evil.
At the vigil, officers could be seen openly weeping. It's been five excruciating days since Hull was shot and killed early last Friday morning after a robbery at a bar.
"The person who ended Garrett's life...the scum bags who go out and shoot people, who rob, who shouldn't be out on the streets," said Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald.
Garrett was part of an undercover operation working to arrest violent robbers – who'd pistol whipped and dragging people inside bars. Police believe they could be linked to 15 robberies since July, mostly targeting Hispanic bars.
Hull was shot in the head after three suspected robbers left Los Vaqueros bar. Police tried to arrest three gunmen, when police say the suspects opened fired. Police shot back, killing one of the suspects, but also injuring Hull.
"Do I want to talk about the notes, Sabrina, you probably don't know that I know about," said the police chief to Hull's widow. "Those things that he needed to check off on his list to do for you all year."
Hull has been described as the rock of his undercover unit and a person born to be an officer. Wednesday night, the public also learned he was also a "notorious gift giver" and a lover of his barbecue smoker.
"He put all of us husbands to shame with how he cherished Sabrina," said Fort Worth Police President Manny Ramirez. "He put all us fathers to shame for how he cherished Jordan and Tristin."
Two of the robbery suspects involved in Hull's shooting remain behind bars. A third, Dacion Steptoe was shot and killed early Friday morning.
On Thursday morning, Hull will be laid to rest in a private ceremony.
BackTheBlueHQ is selling Garrett Hull Warrior t-shirts and says 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the officer's family.