Video footage of the shooting incident at a Fort Worth credit union that left a Tarrant County deputy critically injured has been released.
The Fort Worth Police Department and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office held a joint press conference at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex on December 4 to give an update on the investigation into the shooting of Deputy Brent Brown.
As previously covered in The Dallas Express, Brown, 35, was shot twice on November 27 while working his off-duty job as a security guard at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union at 6454 Brentwood Stair Rd. Shortly before 4 p.m., a suspect, later identified as 35-year-old Leland Williams, exchanged fire with Brown. Williams was arrested hours later on a charge of attempted capital murder of a peace officer.
Speaking at the December 4 press conference, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn and Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes further explained that when Williams entered the bank, he purportedly input a fake name at the check-in kiosk and claimed to want to open a new account.
The video footage taken from inside the financial institution appears to show Williams acting strangely, approaching the bank teller several times rather than waiting for his number to be called. Revealing a pistol, the suspect then rushed to the bank teller a final time and fired several shots at Brown, who was standing to the side behind the counter.
“He saw the deputy as a threat and wanted to take him out first and then rob the bank. Little did he know he had a deputy that wasn’t going to go down so easily,” said Noakes.
Despite having been struck twice, Brown remained standing, unholstered his weapon, and fired several shots at Williams, who fled the scene shortly thereafter.
“We know now Deputy Brown returned fire, as his life was in danger, shot his weapon a total of 12 times,” said Noakes. “This could’ve turned out much worse, but because of swift responses by the deputy and officers on scene, we have a deputy who’s recovering and a violent criminal behind bars.”
The bodycam footage from Fort Worth police officers responding to the scene shows they arrived minutes after the exchange of fire. Police were able to keep on Williams’ tail as he escaped on foot, with witnesses pointing them in the direction of a residence in the 1800 block of Lynnwood Hills Drive.
The newly released footage provides an aerial shot of Williams being taken in by Fort Worth SWAT.
Waybourn told the press that Brown is recovering well and is eager to start rehab and get back on his feet again.
“It’s been a long week for him, but his attitude is incredible. He’s got a positive attitude, each time I’ve spoken to him he says, ‘I’m ready to come back,’” Waybourn said.
The sheriff praised his deputy’s bravery under fire.
“From my perspective … Deputy Brown would make every cop in America proud,” Waybourn remarked. “Evil came at him and he went down but he didn’t stay there. He got up and he went at evil until the fight was over.”
Fort Worth PD has been struggling with staffing shortages, yet its officers continue to earn praise for their swift response times to high-priority calls. In contrast, Dallas PD, which fields a force of fewer than 3,200 officers despite a City report calling for 4,000, has not fared as well, with average response times falling short of the 8-minute goal, as previously covered in The Dallas Express. As of December 6, the average response time was 11.3 minutes.
Downtown Dallas sees significantly higher crime rates than downtown Fort Worth, with a designated police unit patrolling it alongside private security guards.
