Fort Worth officers kill 2 armed men while investigating illegal fireworks
FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth police said officers shot and killed two men overnight while investigating a call about illegal fireworks activity.
Chief Neil Noakes said a police officer and an arson investigator with the fire department spotted some kind of fight around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday in a neighborhood near Main Street and Long Avenue. That’s on the northwest side of town just north of the Stockyards.
The officer and the arson investigator engaged the armed men, then shot those two men.
Police have not yet said whether the two men shot at the officers first or at all.
Both men died. Neither the officer nor the arson investigator was hurt.
"This is a very dynamic scene that came out of nowhere. Officers were not even trying to respond to the scene when they came by. It's just another one of those calls where what may seem routine turns into something dangerous very quickly," Chief Noakes said.
At this point, investigators don't know what the two armed men were fighting about.
It's also unclear who shot the other two people who were found on scene.
Neighbors say the block party is an annual event that has always been fun until Tuesday night's deadly encounter.
Christopher Hernandez lives two doors down from where the deadly officer-involved shooting took place.
"It’s usually a fun thing. This is really a shock. It really is," he said.
Neighbors say dozens of people were in the area for an annual Fourth of July block party.
"It’s sad," said neighbor Irma Ojeda. "It’s dangerous too cause we’re asleep and the shooting is going on."
Hernandez was at the block party earlier in the day.
"This appears to be a bullet hole that hit my house last night. When i went inside to retire, there was multiple gunshots and there was chaos in the streets," he recalled.
The bullet went through the guest bedroom where Hernandez’s daughter normally sleeps.
"I’m really glad she didn't spend the night last night. That bullet is just too close," he said.
Police said they found another man and woman wounded. It’s unclear how they were shot, but they are expected to survive.
Fort Worth's police chief is begging for solutions after a violent past few days. Three people were killed and eight were injured in a shooting after a Fourth of July celebration in the Como neighborhood Monday night.
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Video from the gathering shows crowds of people running from gunshots in Fort Worth's Como neighborhood.
"The only way we can get through this is if we do it together. The only way we can change what’s going on, not just have to investigate cases like this but prevent cases like this, is if we all work together. Which is why any time we have a case like this, or like the case in Como, we are pleading. We are begging the public to please come forward," Noakes said. "There were so many people out there. We know there are people out there that know what happened, know who did it, and know where we can find them. We need their help."
The police chief says the department's major crimes unit, internal affairs unit and DA's office will all be conducting investigators, which is standard procedure in these types of cases.