Police in Fort Worth say that William Martin has been fired after an administrative review into a shooting that happened while he wasn’t on duty in September.
Police in Fort Worth said in a news release that Officer Martin’s chain of command decided that the amount of force used was not justified after a full review of the Internal Affairs investigation.
The report says that Martin’s job ended on Friday, October 18, after Police Chief Neil Noakes agreed with the decision. Martin had been a police officer in Fort Worth for 19 years. He was most recently working in the Support Bureau.
Martin called the police on September 3 in the afternoon to say that someone had hit his car on Interstate 35 and then driven off. Martin, who wasn’t on duty at the time, followed the red pickup truck on I-35W southbound for a while.
Martin’s signed statement says that when the truck and Martin’s car finally came to a stop, the pickup hit Martin’s Honda. He said he fired his gun because he was afraid for his safety when he saw the car move forward.
Samuel Christopher, who was driving the red pickup, told police that he didn’t know he had hit Martin’s car. Martin was following him, but he didn’t know Martin was a police cop.
The lawyer for Christopher, Doug Hafer, said that Martin shot Christopher “as he was moving away from and never toward Officer Martin.”
Hafer says that the shooting was very close to killing someone, and one of the shots just missed Christopher’s spine.
Martin was put on limited duty until the Major Case Unit’s probe was over. It was decided that there was probable cause to charge Martin with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and he was taken on September 20. Police say that since then he has been off duty.
Martin had something to do with the arrest of Jacqueline Craig in 2016. A video of the arrest that went viral showed Martin pinning Craig to the ground after she called the police to report a fight with a neighbor and Craig and the officer got into a fight. After the event, Martin was not allowed to work for 10 days without pay. As part of a settlement, the city paid Craig $150,000 in 2022.
Since the shooting on September 3, people in Fort Worth and community leaders have wanted Martin to be held responsible for what he did.
A council member named Chris Nettles told the Star-Telegram on Friday that he was glad that Noakes fired Martin.
“We need to turn the page on this for the city of Fort Worth and let our police know that we will not stand for this kind of behavior,” Nettles said.
In an email to the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker also said that she agrees with Noakes’ choice.
Parker said, “The relationship between our community and police department is very important, and our officers must show that they are accountable, professional, and respectful of the community they serve.”
Source: Fort Worth police officer fired for ‘unjustified’ force in hit-and-run shooting
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