Video shows FW officer shoot man carrying BBQ fork
FORT WORT, Texas - The Fort Worth Police Department has released dash cam video of the officer-involved shooting that led to the indictment of an officer.
The Tarrant County Grand Jury indicted Courtney Johnson on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant for the incident that happened last June.
Police said Officer Johnson responded to a call about a man who was armed with a knife and banging on his neighbor's door in the 1300 block of New York Avenue, which is near Interstate 35 and Rosedale Street.
The officer spotted the suspect in the street carrying something long and shiny. He ordered him to put it down.
Originally police said the suspect wouldn't cooperate and so the officer shot him once in the arm. But during a press conference Wednesday, Chief Joel Fitzgerald called the shooting unintentional.
The video shows Officer Johnson approaching 55-year-old Craigory Adams with his gun drawn. Adams goes to sit down on the street curb and a few minutes later he is shot.
“This is in our opinion an unintentional shooting, but a shooting none the less that our officer will have to deal with in the court of law,” Chief Fitzgerald said.
The chief does not believe race played any part in the shooting. He called it a “tragic incident” and said he’s releasing the video in an effort to be transparent. He wants the community to draw their own conclusions.
“We want to make sure that as an agency we stress the fact that transparency and openness is something that we stand for in unity,” Fitzgerald said.
Johnson remains on restricted duty with the department. He was booked in the Tarrant County jail on Tuesday, but is now free on a $25,000 bond.
Adams’ family members said he is not a violent person. They’ve filed a lawsuit because they said the shooting left him partially disabled and caused him psychological harm.
“He’s sick and bipolar. And he was just sick and I have never known him to be in any kind of trouble or any kind of way violent with anyone or anybody or anything,” said Jeanette Adams, his mother.
The object he was carrying turned out to be an 11-inch barbecue fork, not a knife.
The trial date has not yet been set.