Officer fatally shot responding to call
Posted on 04/25/2002 4:11:56 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Officer fatally shot responding to call
Gunman, 67, is found dead in White Settlement house
04/25/2002
WHITE SETTLEMENT - A police officer responding to a domestic disturbance without wearing a bulletproof vest was fatally shot Wednesday by a man who officials said had a history of mental problems.
Capt. George Scott Monier, 37, is the first White Settlement police officer to die in the line of duty.
Police say Capt. Monier fired at least one shot at the gunman, who was later found dead inside the Tarrant County home.
 Capt. George Scott Monier |
Capt. Monier was an 11-year veteran of the department who was promoted in December. His job entailed mainly administrative tasks, including overseeing the department's jail, training and communication operations. As a result, he wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest when he rushed to the scene.
The incident began at 12:40 p.m., when police got a report that shots had been fired at a house in the 9000 block of Farmer Road.
Officials said that when the officers arrived, three women were at the home, where Mr. Southall was temporarily staying.
VERNON BRYANT / DMN Fort Worth tactical officers prepare to enter the house in White Settlement where a police officer was shot and killed Wednesday. |
WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported that Mr. Southall was living with his girlfriend, Betty Cook, 63, her daughter, Brandy, and a granddaughter.
Brandy Cook told WFAA that an argument erupted in the house after she confronted Mr. Southall about hitting her mother.
"I asked him why he hit her and told him that he hit the wrong person," she said.
Brandy Cook said Mr. Southall then chased her out of the house. "He told me, 'I'm going to kill you.' "
Police said that the women ran away from the house unharmed and that while officers tried to coax the gunman out the front door, Capt. Monier volunteered to enter from the back.
When he went inside, Capt. Monier exchanged gunfire with the man, later identified as Mr. Southall. Capt. Monier was shot three times in the chest.
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After Capt. Monier was shot, officers from White Settlement and Lake Worth arrived, along with tactical units from Fort Worth and crime scene technicians from the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department.
Under normal circumstances, Capt. Monier would not have responded to the disturbance call, which came during lunchtime.
"I'm sure he was responding as quickly as possible, and that in his rush, he didn't want to let any more time pass," said White Settlement City Manager Gus Pappas.
"It was one of those awkward times when part of the department is at lunch," Mr. Pappas said. Capt. Monier "had gone to an earlier lunch, so he was the senior man in charge when the call went in."
VERNON BRYANT / DMN Police officers console each other about a block away from the house where Capt. George Monier was shot and killed. |
Stunned White Settlement officers gathered at the police station Wednesday afternoon to comfort one another. They soon were joined by representatives from various law-enforcement agencies.
"In a department this small, it hurts when you lose one like that," White Settlement Officer Darrel Payne said.
While listening devices revealed no signs of life within the home, police waited for a judge to sign a search warrant before they re-entered the residence. Tear gas canisters were fired into the house about 4:45 p.m. About an hour later, more gas was fired, and officers went inside, along with two paramedics. A few minutes later, they left the home and said the suspect was dead.
Officers found a .45-caliber handgun and a rifle inside the house, Mr. Pappas said.
"It is my understanding that Mr. Southall had some mental problems, although the depth or type has not been confirmed," Mr. Pappas said, adding that officers continued Wednesday night to investigate his mental history.
"It seems to have been a very random, useless act of violence."
In the usually quiet residential area near White Settlement Road and East Loop 820, neighbors gathered to watch the police activity. Leigh Mooney said she was getting into her car when she saw officers walking down her street with their guns drawn.
"They were looking really serious and were hunkered down as they were coming down the street," she said. "That's when I thought something serious was going on, and then I could hear the screaming."
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Late Wednesday, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers allowed only relatives to approach the family's property.
White Settlement Police Chief David Place was too upset to comment about the officer's shooting, officials said.
"It's going to be hard to get through this," White Settlement Mayor James Herring said.
Capt. Monier was extremely popular and described by administrators as a "cutting-edge officer" who was part of the department's recent modernization.
"He was one of the best and brightest. He would have been a future potential chief, if not here, then somewhere else," Mr. Pappas said. "We'll miss him terribly."
Dewayn Cash, a City Council member who described himself as a friend of Capt. Monier, said the officer was always willing to listen to a friend in need.
"We lost a great person in the community, and I lost a friend," Mr. Cash said. "That he would volunteer to go in the back that tells you the type of person he was. That he would take that responsibility and take that risk."
Because it was the first time an officer in White Settlement has been shot, as well as the first time an officer died in the line of duty, the department of about 50 was taking Capt. Monier's death hard.
"It bothers us, and it's going to take a long time to heal. I think it will take a long time for the officers to be confident again, and there will be a lot of questioning inside," Mr. Pappas said.
Staff writers Joshua Benton and Matt Stiles contributed to this report.
E-mail ncalaway@dallasnews.com and jtrahan@dallasnews.com
Domestics are overall the most unpredictably dangerous situation that police officers can involve themselves in. I would appear that, if this man had worn his body armor (minimum IIa, I would hope), he might still be breathing.
WEAR YOUR ARMOR.
It's a suburb of Fort Worth, TX. God bless this officer and his family.
/john
The first time my brother came to visit me from Oklahoma, he called from Fort Worth to get directions. When asked where he was at, he said "Next to someplace called White Superiority Road......What kind of down is this anyway?" LOL.
I think one of his comrades mentioned in the video link that he was likely in a hurry to get to the scene, too.......
I'm getting pretty sick of IDIOT women letting lunatics into their homes and endangering their families and others. It's pretty sad when you reach age 63 and haven't got any more sense than a boy crazy 13 yr old.
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