The Watauga Police Department has filed with the Texas State Attorney General a custodial death report regarding the death of Brandy Caldwell (46 years of age at the time of her death). The Watauga Police Department indicated in its report to the Texas State Attorney General that Ms. Caldwell was armed and made statements to a person in which she threatened to harm herself. Allegedly, a Watauga police officer later located Ms. Caldwell in the 6300 block of Watauga Road. The report then alleges that Ms. Caldwell pointed a gun at the police officer and was shot.
Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.
On Wednesday, August 29, 2017, in Watauga, Texas, 46-year-old Brandy Caldwell was highly distraught after a phone conversation with her attorney. Within a relatively short time, at about 4 pm, Caldwell was seen walking down a street with a handgun and was allegedly shot by a police officer. She died later that night at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Caldwell had been discussing custody of her children with her attorney, who was very concerned about her and asked police to check on her. When they arrived, she was already gone. In the meantime, Caldwell left and had an automobile collision, according to her roommate. It was soon after the collision that she was allegedly shot by police less than a mile from her home.
Just before Caldwell encountered a police officer, she was supposedly walking with a handgun on a street near Grace E. Hardeman Elementary School and Watauga Middle School. The children had been dismissed for the day.
The police officer who encountered Caldwell saw her in a yard and allegedly fired one round. Caldwell was shot in the torso. The officer administered aid to her immediately and called for an ambulance. She was quickly transported to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Family members and friends were shocked to hear that Caldwell had a gun. No one knew of a time when she had possession of a handgun. They are hoping there was video captured of the incident, so that they can have a greater understanding about her death.
The officer involved in the alleged shooting is on administrative leave, and the incident is being investigated with the help of the Texas Rangers.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
Police officers in Watauga, Texas, were dispatched to a street near Watauga Middle School and Grace E. Hardeman Elementary School on Wednesday, August 29, 2017. The 9-1-1- caller said a person was walking down the street with a weapon. When police arrived, the person they encountered was 46-year-old Brandy Caldwell of Watauga. She was in someone’s yard and was allegedly holding a handgun. According to Robert Parker, Watauga Police Chief, at about 4 p.m., a police officer fired one shot, which struck Caldwell. The officer, who was not injured, administered aid immediately. Caldwell was then transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. At about 8:49 p.m. that night, she was pronounced dead. An autopsy is pending.
Chief Parker gave more detailed information about what happened and what isn’t known yet. There has been no determination regarding how long Caldwell had been walking down the street holding a handgun. He also doesn’t yet know whether she had a permit to carry a handgun. He said that Caldwell was allegedly shot less than a mile from her home. The identification of the officer responsible for the alleged shooting has not been revealed. Parker said that the man, who has been placed on leave, has served as a police officer for 20 years.
Students from the nearby schools had just been released when the incident occurred. For a brief period after the shooting, police locked down the schools.
The investigation into the alleged police shooting will be aided by the Texas Rangers.
There was no mention of body cameras or dashcam videos that could provide insight into the shooting. Such tools have become very important to the general public, since they can sometimes show whether police officers have used excessive force.
Watauga is approximately 10 miles north of Fort Worth.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, on Watauga Road in Watauga, Texas, a woman was allegedly holding a handgun and was shot by police. A spokesperson for the City of Watauga, Brad Fraley, said that the facts of what led to the police shooting are currently unknown. The call that multiple police officers responded to was of an undisclosed nature. All that is known is that the woman displayed a firearm before allegedly being shot, and no police officers were injured. The woman was transported to Fort Worth’s John Peter Smith Hospital. There have been no announcements regarding her condition. As in all officer-involved shootings, the Texas Rangers have been called to help conducted an investigation.
Based on social media communications and various organizations formed across the country to demand closer scrutiny of law enforcement agencies, many people in society have come to believe that police officers must be held more accountable for their actions. It has seemed that in nearly all police shootings, the officers are exonerated. This is often the case when facts don’t seem to match with such decisions.
An example of a police shooting in Texas that seemed to be an evident display of excessive force and that created public outrage occurred in Texarkana in 2014. Thirty-five-year-old Dennis Grigsby was mentally ill and was allegedly fatally shot by police who were threatened by the spoon he was holding. The incident occurred in a garage that was dimly lit, and the property owner had called 9-1-1 regarding a burglary in progress. The family sued the city and police over Grigsby’s death. This is one of a number of high-profile controversial police shootings.
Until further facts are known, it remains to be seen whether the Watauga shooting will be controversial.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
