Man Tied To Fort Worth Officer Shooting Released
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The man accused of attempting to kill a Fort Worth police officer walked out of jail in Tarrant County on Wednesday morning. Ed McIver Jr. was released on bond after first being fitted with an ankle monitor. He was out shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
McIver left without saying a word, walking from the Tarrant County jail to the Department of Corrections to get his GPS ankle monitor. His mother picked him up from there.
A judge on Monday reduced McIver's bond from $2 million to just $17,000 for attempted capital murder of an officer and two lesser counts. Prosecutors agreed to the terms after a grand jury declined to indict McIver last week for the attempted killing. McIver must also remain in Tarrant County or Parker County, surrender his passport, wear a monitoring device and adhere to a curfew.
The accused man is also not permitted to own a firearm, nor is anyone who lives with him, and McIver is not allowed to room with a convicted felon.
McIver and his father were involved in a police chase back in March, which culminated in a shootout with officers in a wooded Fort Worth field. The gunfire ended with McIver's father dead and Officer Matt Pearce critically injured after being shot seven times. Pearce is now recovering at home after a lengthy hospital stay.
Read More About Pearce's Recovery
Authorities have stated that it was McIver's father who wounded Pearce. According to defense attorneys, the father handed his son two weapons before they started fleeing, but evidence shows that neither gun was fired during the shootout. Prosecutors in Tarrant County acknowledged that, because a grand jury cleared McIver of the crime, they would not stop his release.
However, prosecutors plan to use a rare legal move to put McIver back in court and hold him accountable for what happened that day. The Tarrant County district attorney refiled the exact same charge against McIver -- something that does not happen often -- in hopes that a different grand jury will produce a different outcome.