A police chase involving outside law enforcement agencies ended in gunfire outside a Sam’s Club in Burleson on Monday evening, leaving both an officer and a suspect shot. Burleson police and EMS responded to the retail parking lot at 600 N. Burleson Blvd. after the shooting, and the conditions of both the officer and the suspect had not been released by officials as of last night.
The incident began as a vehicle pursuit, according to investigators, and it involved local law enforcement agencies from surrounding jurisdictions before ending near the store, which sits close to the Interstate 35W service road near Highway 174, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Law enforcement had not identified which department was involved or which agency employed the wounded officer, the paper noted. The Texas Rangers, a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, will investigate the shooting, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Who Was Chasing Whom
City of Burleson officials clarified Monday that no Burleson Police Department officers fired their weapons or were injured in the gunfire, since the vehicle pursuit was initiated by outside agencies rather than local police, according to CBS News Texas. That pursuit involved state and regional agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, before it ended along the I-35W service road near the retail corridor. Burleson officers assisted mainly by securing the perimeter and managing the parking lot scene rather than taking part in the chase itself.
Fort Worth police provided traffic control and an escort for the ambulance carrying the wounded officer north toward Fort Worth trauma centers, Burleson Emergency Medical Services confirmed to WFAA. Local departments in North Texas routinely request Texas Rangers investigations into officer-involved shootings to ensure an impartial inquiry, and that protocol is now underway in Burleson, as noted by FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Public Asked to Stay Clear as Investigation Continues
The public was asked to avoid the area while law enforcement conducts its investigation, and officials said they have no known threat to the community at this time. Officials said they will share further details as they become available, per the Star-Telegram’s reporting.
The Sam’s Club sits directly off the I-35W corridor near Highway 174, a heavily trafficked commercial area that draws drivers from suburbs across Johnson and Tarrant counties, according to CBS Texas. Burleson, located roughly 15 miles south of downtown Fort Worth, had grown to an estimated population of 57,625 residents by 2024, per Wikipedia, as the city has expanded rapidly as a suburban hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Part of a Troubling Pattern at North Texas Retail Centers
Monday’s shooting came less than three weeks after an off-duty Dallas ISD police officer, 39-year-old Justin Jones, was shot on August 6 in a Sam’s Club and Walmart retail plaza along the LBJ Freeway in Dallas, where he had stopped to offer assistance to a suspect, WFAA reported at the time. It also echoes a 2021 case in Burleson, when Officer Joshua Lott was shot multiple times during a traffic stop, touching off a multi-agency regional manhunt that ended in the arrest of suspect Jerry Don Elders, according to Focus Daily News. That 2021 investigation was also led by the Texas Rangers.
What the Suspect Could Face
Under Texas Penal Code Section 22.02, discharging a firearm at or intentionally threatening a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon constitutes aggravated assault on a public servant, a first-degree felony punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to FindLaw. Texas law automatically enhances that charge from a second-degree to a first-degree felony when the victim is a public servant.
Separately, Texas Penal Code Section 38.04 escalates evading arrest from a Class A misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, carrying a penalty of 2 to 10 years in prison, whenever a suspect uses a motor vehicle to flee a lawful arrest or detention attempt, per the same FindLaw statute. No charges had been announced as of Monday night, and the identities of the officer and suspect had not been released.
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