Posted on 11/30/2005 6:04:56 PM PST by Dubya
FORT WORTH -- A Fort Worth police officer shot in the head while searching for a fugitive is "worsening" as friends, family and fellow officers continue to stand vigil at the hospital, a police spokesman said Wednesday afternoon.
Officer Henry "Hank" Nava, 39, is clinging to life, but his condition remains largely unchanged since he was shot about 2 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a Fort Worth police spokesman.
"It's worsening, if anything," said Sullivan, who said police would provide no more updates until Nava's condition changes.
Earlier Wednesday, after a visit to Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital, Mayor Mike Moncrief said Nava was on life support and that supporters were "praying for a miracle."
The gunman, Stephen Lance Heard, 39, a convicted felon on parole, shot Nava as the officer opened the door to a bedroom while searching a mobile home, according to arrest warrant affidavits released Wednesday.
The affidavits contradict initial reports from the first hectic hours of the event that Nava was shot while talking with a woman on the porch.
After the shooting, Heard forced his way into a nearby home and held another woman hostage for about two hours before releasing her and eventually surrendering.
Nava, a member of the north-side crime response team, remained in the trauma intensive care unit at Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital Wednesday, while his family and fellow officers -- Police Chief Ralph Mendoza among them -- stood vigil.
“We have an outstanding officer who is putting up a hell of a battle,’’ Mendoza told reporters, his voice breaking. “And, hopefully, he will be successful in that battle as time continues.”
Sandi Martin, a family spokeswoman, made a brief statement on behalf of Nava’s family:
“They want to thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for the family," she said. "We also ask that you continue to lift up every officer in the city of Fort Worth and around the nation for the job that they do.”
Holding back tears, she added, “Hank loved his job and is an excellent officer.”
Heard has been arraigned on charges of attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after the standoff in northwest Fort Worth. Bail was set at $1 million on each charge, and he was being booked into the Mansfield Jail on Wednesday morning.
Heard was treated at the scene for a superficial gunshot wound to his chin that he apparently received when Nava and two other officers returned fire.
The affidavits said he shot Nava with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
Little was know about Heard early Wednesday. His ex-wife described him as abusive, and neighbors said he had just recently moved into the neighborhood.
His previous convictions include forgery and possession of a controlled substance, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.
Police are trying to determine whether he is the driver who led officers on a high-speed chase Sunday night and are also investigating whether he has ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist group.
Shortly before noon Wednesday, about a dozen Fort Worth officers were at the white mobile home, processing the crime scene and keeping onlookers at bay.
Sullivan said Heard is cooperating with authorities.
“I’m not going to speculate on why he chose the actions that you saw unfold yesterday," the police spokesman said. "Everyone can certainly empathize with a criminal’s desperation, but what we can’t understand is why you would shoot a police officer.
"And that’s something we may never know.”
Sullivan described the mood inside Harris Methodist -- whose streets were surrounded by police vehicles -- as "very solemn and serene."
Twenty or 30 officers and about as many immediate and extended family members were gathered, and other family members from outside the area continued to arrive, Sullivan said.
"Some of the gravity and the dire consequences of the situation are beginning to set in," he said. "It’s been a devastating blow to our department, but more specifically our focus remains on supporting officer Nava's wife and their two small children."
Nava joined the Fort Worth Police Department in April 1992 but left in January 1999, working a short stint as a Plano police officer before returning to Fort Worth in May 1999, records show.
He and his wife have two children, a 9-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son.
He is the first Fort Worth police officer to be seriously wounded in the line of duty since January 2003, when Lisa Ramsey was shot by a store clerk who mistook her for a robber.
Police are investigating whether Heard may be the man who led Sansom Park and Fort Worth police officers on a high-speed chase Sunday night.
Sansom Park Police Chief Tony White said the pursuit occurred about 10 p.m. after someone drove off from a gas station without paying and with the gas pump nozzle still attached to the pickup.
White said Sansom Park police chased the pickup to Fort Worth, where Fort Worth officers took over the pursuit. The pickup was later abandoned not far from the scene of Tuesday's shooting.
Using information gleaned from the vehicle, police developed information about a man wanted on an outstanding felony warrant.
According to Sullivan and the affidavits released Wednesday, here is what unfolded Tuesday:
Nava and two other officers went to the mobile home on Seth Barwise Street in an attempt to find Heard.
After speaking with a man and a woman on the porch of the home, the officers received permission to search inside for Heard.
The woman, who had told police that Heard was not inside, announced that they were entering the home.
During the search, Nava opened the bedroom door and said that Heard was in the room. Heard fired several shots at Nava, with one hitting the officer in the head.
Nava returned fire and fell, and the other two officers also fired into the room.
Heard broke a window and escaped.
A short time later, Kong Chandavong was walking her dog in her front yard when she saw an armed man kick in the door of her home in the 7000 block of Marvin Brown Street.
The woman, whose 26-year-old daughter, Sounnakon Chandavong, was inside alone, told a neighbor to call 911.
Dozens of Fort Worth police officers and Tarrant County sheriff's deputies set up an eight-block perimeter, ordering residents to evacuate or lock themselves indoors. Three nearby schools -- the Watson Learning Center, and Elkins Elementary and Creekview Middle schools -- were locked down for a time before the students were released.
About 4:40 p.m., after telephone conversations with hostage negotiators, the gunman released Sounnakon Chandavong.
"My daughter cried and I cried," said the woman's father, Khamsing Chandavong. "I said, 'I'm happy that you are safe.'"
Leeta Vejsiri, 23, said she was elated when she watched on television as her best friend of five years ran out of the home unharmed.
"I was relieved," Vejsiri said. "I'm just going to give her a hug. I just can't believe that happened to her. Poor thing."
The suspect surrendered to police about a half-hour later.
Sullivan said Fort Worth police are working with Sansom Park and other law enforcement agencies in researching Heard's history.
Texas Department of Public Safety records show Heard has previous convictions, including for forgery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance. He is on parole.
Heard's ex-wife saw a TV report about the shooting Tuesday but did not know the incident involved her ex-husband until learning about it from the Star-Telegram..
The woman, who asked that she be identified only by her first name, Karen, expressed sorrow over officer Nava.
"I pray to God that that policeman is OK, that he makes it," she said.
Karen said she has had no contact with Heard since June, when he tried to take her and her new husband, Kevin, to court to get visitation rights to their 6-year-old son.
Karen described her ex-husband as an abusive man and said she is glad that he is behind bars.
"My whole family will have comfort in that," Karen said, her voice cracking. "You have no idea how glad I am."
Neighbors knew little about Heard but said he had only recently begun living in the trailer.
"I don't know him," said Khip Boutsisavath, who lives about six houses from where the shooting took place. "He rents that house for maybe two to four months."
Moncrief was among those waiting at the hospital Tuesday.
"... Something like this can happen any day in any city," Moncrief said, choking back tears. "The officer was doing his best to do his job.
"We call them Fort Worth's finest because they are."
Staff writers Melody McDonald, Alex Branch, Bill Miller, Chris Vaughn, Diane Smith, Anna Tinsley, Traci Shurley, John Gutierrez-Mier and Matt Frazier contributed to this report.
Yep a high drive and well trained K-9 can save officer's lives..
Thank you for the ping, BG. So sorry that I'm just now seeing it.
I've read the whole thread,Dubya, and I know that there is little hope remaining that Officer Nava will survive. However, my prayers have been taken before the throne of our Heavenly Father for mercy for this man, and his family. His blessed will be done.
TP, I read the article containing comments from the shooter's mother that they are a Christian family and that their son was raised in that manner. My prayers for this family too. What an absolutely horrible, senseless, and tragic situation.
Prayers up.
Morning prayers....
Prayers sent for Officer Henry Nava and his family.
Prayer. Amen. Jesus.
And again.....
WFAA is reporting that Officer Nava just passed away.
He passed away this afternoon.......
Shooter is in line for the needle ASAP !
Dallas lost one and now Ft. Worth has lost one of their Peace Officers within a month of each other. I grieve with their families and pray for quick justice.
My prayers for Officer "Hank" and his family.
Makes me realize how short and precious life is.
Thanks for the ping.
Carolyn
Thank you and Amen.
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