A Texas police officer who was shot in the head during a bar robbery died in the hospital.
Garrett Hull, an undercover officer, was part of a team who had been trailing three suspects.
The team waited outside for fear of endangering bystanders before confronting the trio when the suspects exited the bar after robbing it on Sept. 14.
Dacion Steptoe, the suspect who shot Hull, was killed on the scene.
Hull was rushed to the hospital in a squad car after being shot in the head but died about 24 hours later, the Fort Worth Police Department announced.
It is with profound sadness that we must inform you that Officer Garrett Hull passed away Friday at 9:40 p.m. He was with family, friends and fellow officers. Please continue to pray for his family and those that need it in this tragic time.#RIP #PoliceFamily
— Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) September 15, 2018
Undercover FWPD Officer Garrett Hull is fighting to survive after being shot in the head during a robbery surveillance. We're told hundreds of officers have gathered at JPS to support him. The city asks for the community's prayers this morning. pic.twitter.com/UMX9RBJaoL
— Lauren Zakalik (@wfaalauren) September 14, 2018
Officer Dies
Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, Mayor Betsy Price, and several police officers announced the news just after midnight on the morning of Sept. 15.
“I regret that I have to speak to you all this evening. I am even more dismayed by the fact that I have to announce that at 21:40 hours Police Officer Garrett Hull passed away,” Fitzgerald said, reported CBS.
“We’ve lost a true hero; someone who has dedicated more than one tour of service to this great city and was senselessly killed by three known criminals—two of which are in custody now.”
“There’s not a dry eye in this house,” he added. “Our whole department is hurting right now… a situation like this is something that’s going to galvanize this police department; galvanize the city.”
Hull had been a police officer for 19 years. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters.
JUST IN: Two men accused in a string of robberies in Fort Worth that resulted in the shooting of @fortworthpd Officer Garrett Hull, have been identified: Samuel Mayfield, 23, (left) Timothy Kion Huff, 33 (right.) Third suspect, Dacion Steptoe, killed by police. @CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/3JRuH1bU2x
— MaryAnn Martinez (@maryanncbs11) September 15, 2018
String of Robberies
Victor Zepeda, the owner of Los Vaqueros, the bar the crew robbed on Sept. 14, said there were more than 12 people inside when two men burst in wearing masks.
“We were here and they just bum-rushed the bar, told us to hit the floor and had the guns out,” he told CBS.
The robbers told everyone to empty their pockets and after gathering everything, left.
Fitzgerald told reporters on Sept. 14, that the robbery crew is suspected in a string of robberies in and around the city in recent months.
The numerous robberies the men are believed to have committed primarily targeted Latino-owned bars.
A police spokesman said that the robbers targeted such bars because they believed the victims would be less likely to report the robberies to the police.
