A Saginaw police officer shot and wounded a man armed with a rifle yesterday after officers said he advanced on them and refused to drop the weapon during a welfare check at a house in the 300 block of Asbury Drive. The man was taken to a hospital, and his condition was not immediately known.
Officers were dispatched to the home shortly before 11:30 a.m. after dispatchers reported that a man at the address was experiencing a mental health crisis and had tried to harm himself, according to police officials cited by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. More precisely, DFW Scanner reports that telecommunicators at the Northwest Tarrant County Emergency Communications Center dispatched officers at 11:26 a.m. following the report of a man in crisis attempting self-harm.
When officers arrived, they encountered the man with a rifle inside the house, per the Star-Telegram's account. Officers gave verbal commands trying to de-escalate the situation, but the man advanced on them with the rifle, and a Saginaw officer fired his handgun, striking him. Saginaw police officers involved in the encounter were reported safe, according to the same report.
Emergency Response and Aftermath
Emergency medical care at the scene was rendered jointly by Saginaw Fire Department and Fort Worth Fire Department personnel before the wounded man was transported by ground ambulance to a regional hospital, the DFW Scanner report notes. His current medical condition remains unknown. A Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas staff attorney, identified as Kirby Wallace, responded to the scene to assist the involved officer, per the Star-Telegram.
As is standard procedure following officer-involved shootings in Tarrant County, Texas Rangers from the Texas Department of Public Safety will conduct an independent investigation into Saturday's shooting, while the Saginaw Police Department will separately carry out an administrative review of whether department policies and procedures were followed. The Rangers' findings will ultimately go to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office for prosecutorial review, according to WFAA. Texas DPS protocol documents state that Rangers conduct these independent criminal investigations to provide objective external oversight and to determine whether the force used complied with Texas Penal Code provisions on self-defense and defense of third parties.
Second Shooting for Saginaw Police in Four Months
Saturday's shooting marks the second time in four months that Saginaw police officers have fired on a suspect. On May 7, a Saginaw officer fatally shot 19-year-old Alexavier Nahoolewa in the 1300 block of North Creek Drive during a physical struggle as officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant, according to FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth. Tarrant County court records from that time showed Nahoolewa was facing an active warrant after failing to appear for a May 4 court date tied to December 2025 charges of resisting arrest, evading arrest, and unauthorized use of a vehicle, the station reported.
While the May incident involved officers executing a felony warrant, yesterday's shooting began as a response to a mental health crisis involving a suicidal subject armed with a rifle. In both cases, Saginaw police reported that the suspect actively resisted or advanced on officers before an officer discharged a firearm, with each incident followed by the standard combination of a Texas Rangers investigation and a parallel internal administrative review.
Neighborhood and Department Context
The 300 block of Asbury Drive has drawn police attention before. In October 2022, Saginaw police investigated a fatal child abuse case on the same block after a 22-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with internal injuries that killed a 10-month-old infant, according to WFAA, which reported that the investigation was also conducted alongside the Texas Rangers.
Saginaw police have also confronted deadly force decisions in years past. In February 2016, officers shot and killed a 25-year-old man who had gone on a physical rampage, attacking residents and attempting to break into homes before confronting responding officers, FOX 4 reported at the time. The department is currently led by Chief Russell Ragsdale, who joined Saginaw as Operations Captain in 2009 and was promoted to Assistant Chief in 2019, holding a Master Peace Officer certification from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, according to the Saginaw Police Department. Law enforcement database entries show the department operates with roughly 35 to 38 commissioned officers serving a suburban population of about 24,000 to 25,000 residents in northern Tarrant County, per Discover Policing — a scale that leaves smaller departments like Saginaw's routinely reliant on state agencies such as the Texas Rangers to conduct independent critical-incident inquiries.
The identity and medical condition of the man shot yesterday have not been released, and it remains unclear whether body camera or dash camera footage exists capturing the de-escalation attempts and the man's movements before the officer opened fire. As the investigation moves forward, findings from both the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office will determine whether the case proceeds to grand jury review.
