A man has turned himself in after a fight escalated into a fatal shooting on Saturday night in Fort Worth’s popular West 7th Entertainment District.
Karlove Palmer, 29, surrendered to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office late on March 3 after Fort Worth police issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the slaying of Bryson Rodgers, 29, the evening before.
Fort Worth police officers fielded reports of the shooting in the 2900 block of Crockett Street at about 10:15 p.m. They discovered Rodgers injured with multiple gunshot wounds, which he died from later at the hospital.
The shooter allegedly fled the area prior to the arrival of officers. An ensuing investigation led police to Palmer, who, along with Rodgers, reportedly had reservations with a virtual reality business near the scene of the shooting, according to Fox 4 KDFW. Detectives believe that an argument broke out between the two men — whose connection is unclear — and it escalated to Palmer allegedly drawing a weapon and firing.
Palmer is currently booked on murder charges in Tarrant County jail in lieu of a $300,000 bond.
Rodgers’ friends and loved ones have taken to social media to mourn his death. Noting that his nickname was Breadloaf, they called him kind, smart, and always ready to turn someone’s day around by making them laugh, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Since last year’s murder of Wes Smith, a student at Texas Christian University, on Bledsoe Street, Fort Worth authorities have looked to tighten up its public safety approach through “interdiction-style enforcement” in entertainment areas, as covered in The Dallas Express.
Nonetheless, some locals have reported thinking twice about heading to the West 7th Entertainment District at night.
“Coming out here for nightlife, you can just come on edge sometimes because you never know,” said Angel Estrada, who spoke to NBC 5 DFW while getting lunch in the neighborhood on Sunday. “Before, it used to be like, ‘Hey, let’s have a drink out here for a little bit.’ Now it’s like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go out there.'”
Compared to Downtown Dallas, Fort Worth’s city center, which has a dedicated police unit and private security officers, sees drastically lower crime rates. Comparative studies conducted each month by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) show that the former sees higher levels of motor vehicle thefts, assault offenses, drug violations, and car burglaries, in particular.
Yet crime data on Downtown Dallas cannot paint the full picture, as MCBA’s CEO Louis Darrouzet previously told The Dallas Express.
“Crimes go unreported because police response times are through the roof due to the police force being largely understaffed. The City of Dallas is continuing to lose police officers and now has barely 3,100 officers,” wrote Darrouzet.
The City of Dallas previously recommended a force of around 4,000 officers to ensure public safety in a municipality the size of Dallas. The chronic shortage of officers has contributed, for instance, to a 15% uptick in murders citywide between 2022 and 2023, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. The majority of victims were black and Hispanic males.
