Burleson Police Detectives Shot By Suspected Bank Robber
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BURLESON (CBSDFW.COM) - Two Burleson police officers are recovering after being shot by an alleged bank robber.
One bullet left Detective Nick Grace with a minor wound to the leg. He was treated and released from John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Detective David Feucht's injuries were more serious. He was shot twice and was also taken to JPS. Once there Detective David Feucht immediately underwent surgery, that was complete by 3:30 p.m. Friday evening officials said he was stable.
The alleged bank robbery and shooting suspect, whose name has not been released, is in custody.
The incident began shortly after 12:00 p.m. when the Burleson Police Department received a call about a "suspicious person" at the Wells Fargo Bank in the 400 block of East Renfro Street. When patrol officers arrived at the scene they did not go into the bank.
The two injured officers are plain clothes detectives who, after being notified about the bank situation, told officials they were in the area and offered to assist.
It was confirmed that a robbery had in fact occurred and the suspect had left on foot. The suspect was seen leaving the bank, walking past several businesses and toward a 7-11 convenience store.
During an afternoon press conference Burleson police Officer Jae Berg explained what happened next. "Our officers had started to close in to talk with this individual. That's when our plain clothes detectives actually made contact, identifying who they were, advising the individual to stop. And that's when the individual had turned and engaged in gunfire with actual plain clothes detectives."
At least one officer was able to return fire. Police say it isn't yet clear how many shots were fired or which officer or officers fired their weapon.
After shooting the two detectives the alleged suspect ran into the 7-11 convenience store. Patrol officers saw the man go inside and pursued him. Police say the suspect did not resist and was taken into custody, inside the store, without incident. The suspect didn't appear to be injured and refused medical treatment. No one inside the store was injured.
Police later learned the robber left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money and cash, among other things, was found at the convenience store. Officer Berg said, "We did also recover a firearm, a handgun, semi-automatic weapon at the scene as well."
Officials say they are looking at charging the unidentified suspect with Aggravated Robbery and two counts of Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer.
A Deputy Chief at the scene immediately after the shooting said both detectives were conscious and talking before being transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Burleson Police Chief Billy Cordell said, "We are in contact with the family, so they are at the hospital now. We have a tight knit group... 63 officers. We are trying to keep dispatchers, everyone updated on this, because we are a close knit group."
Detective David Feucht has been with the Burleson Police Department for 23 years and has 27 yers of law enforcement experience. Detective Nick Grace has worked as an officer with Burleson PD for 10 years and has worked 14 years overall in law enforcement.
The FBI is assisting Burleson PD with the investigation.
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