Man who fled from road rage trial dies during armed standoff in Frisco
FRISCO (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A man who fled in the middle of his trial for road rage-related offenses was found dead in a Frisco apartment earlier this week after an hours-long standoff with police.
A spokesperson for District Attorney Greg Willis said on Friday that Carlton Williams, 35, of Cedar Hill, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 10 after refusing to surrender to police.
Williams had been on the run since March 22, the third day of his trial for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. When he failed to appear, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest and Willis' office contacted the Texas Rangers and Texas DPS agents for help finding him.
The Texas Rangers managed to locate Williams over two weeks later and alerted Frisco police. At about 3 p.m. on Monday, members of the Frisco Police Special Operations Unit (SOU) attempted to serve the warrant.
However, Williams barricaded himself inside and refused to surrender. Residents of the complex were evacuated or sheltered in place as a precaution.
Negotiators began speaking with Williams at about 3:30 p.m., but his behavior became more and more erratic as the standoff went on. Police said he began making statements that he would kill anyone who came to the door and refused to cooperate.
During the standoff, police used a number of tactics to try and get Williams to surrender to no avail. Drones were used to monitor the scene and communicate with Williams, who allegedly destroyed two of them. Police said he also fired at officers several times and struck a number of nearby apartment buildings.
At about 9:40 p.m., over six hours after the standoff began, SOU agents fired a round of "chemical agents" into the apartment and used an explosive to breach the bedroom door. Less than 10 seconds later, police heard a single gunshot from the bathroom attached to the bedroom.
A drone found Williams inside the bathroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital, but did not survive his wounds.
Wiliiams was on trial for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon related to a road rage incident in August 2021 in Plano. Williams was accused of using a machete to threaten another driver's life and slashing their tires.
The jury also heard evidence of three other road rage incidents allegedly involving Williams: two in Dallas County in 2021 and one in another county in 2019. In both Dallas County incidents, Williams also allegedly used a machete to threaten other drivers. Williams also had two prior felony convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2008 and continuously violating a protective order in 2015, both in Dallas County.
Despite his absence from trial, the jury found him guilty anyway.