A police officer and an arson investigator shot and killed two men who were holding guns when they stopped a fight in Fort Worth early Wednesday, police say.
The two had been paired to respond to reports of illegal fireworks, but Fort Worth police Chief Neil Noakes said they stopped when they saw people fighting near Northwest 32nd Street and Ross Avenue.
Arson investigators are licensed peace officers, and both the investigator and police officer were armed. Noakes said the two were headed to a different location to respond to a fireworks call, but stopped when they saw the group fighting at about 12:25 a.m. Wednesday.
"The Fort Worth police officer and arson investigator engaged two armed, male subjects. Both officers fired their duty handguns, and both male subjects were shot," Noakes said. "Officers began rendering aid to the injured suspects."
Noakes said one man died at the scene. The other died at the hospital.
No officers were hurt, but Noakes said police found two other people, a man and a woman, who had also been shot. They both survived and are now in the hospital.
Noakes said the police department's Major Crimes and Internal Affairs units would investigate the shooting along with the Tarrant County District Attorney. He said both officers had body cameras, so they will watch that video. Both the officer and arson investigator are on routine administrative leave.
"We're going to make sure they have all the resources they may need to be able to get through this," Noakes said . "Obviously, they'll be speaking with our investigators about exactly what occurred tonight."
The fight and shooting in North Fort Worth follow a mass shooting at the end of a neighborhood party in Como on Monday night, where three people died and eight others were hurt.
"The important thing to remember is it's stressful for all of us," Noakes said. "It's stressful for the entire city of Fort Worth. It's stressful for the nation. This is going on all over. Quite frankly, we're all tired of it. We're tired of seeing this kind of senseless violence. We're tired of seeing, especially, young people being killed and young people taking lives."
Police had not made any arrests in the shooting in Como Wednesday morning. They have been asking people who took videos before or during the shooting to share them with police. Anyone with information is asked to call Fort Worth Police at (817) 392-4330 or Crime Stoppers.
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