Fort Worth police release dashcam, aerial videos in shooting of carjacking suspect
FORT WORTH — Fort Worth police released new dashcam and aerial videos of the moment officers shot a carjacking suspect after he led them on a chase through the northeastern part of the city.
Around 5 p.m. on July 11, officers were alerted to a stolen vehicle, which they attempted to stop. The driver fled and officers chased the suspect for about 20 minutes as he drove "recklessly," ramming into a patrol car, according to Sgt. Leah Wagner with the Fort Worth Police Department.
The pursuit ended when police deployed spikes in the road and the suspect wrecked the vehicle he was driving.
After wrecking the vehicle, the suspect is seen on police dashcam and aerial video, getting out with a long gun in his hands and approaching another person in a white SUV and attempting to carjack them.
Officers tried to engage with the suspect as he continued to act "in a threatening way" and ultimately shot at him, Wagner said. He was taken to the hospital and is listed in stable condition. No officers or civilians were injured, according to Wagner.
"I think about the split-second decisions officers have to make in situations like this," said Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes.
"Whether to act or not, whether to shoot or not shoot. When presented with a threat to themselves or someone else, oftentimes it's not when they do act that haunts them, it's when they don't. Officers have to make those decisions very quickly ... No officer wants to go through this. No officer wants to have to use that type of training and use deadly force."
Noakes said the department has not been able to confirm the suspect's name or age yet.
The investigation is still in the early stages.