Patrick Warren Senior
Birth date:
October 7, 1968
Death date:
January 10, 2021
Age at Death:
52
About
Mr. Warren was a Bryan, Texas native. He was a family man, married to his wife Bobbie, who indicated Mr. Warren had lost his job at a local plant because of the coronavirus pandemic. So, he started a landscaping business to provide for his family. "Patrick was a loving husband, father and devoted man of God. As we deal with the pain of his sudden loss we are asking the community to join us in honoring his name and demanding justice," she said in a statement shared by her attorney.
Killeen Police were responding to a second mental health emergency call on Mr. Warren and shot him dead in his front lawn. The day before he was shot dead, he voluntarily agreed to the police resource officer's request to be taken to a healthcare facility, and released same day. RingCentral video posted on social media shows the officer arriving at the front door, going inside, then leaving the house, with Mr. Warren behind him waving his hands in the air and growling. Video shows Mr. Warren emotionally distressed and refusing to get down on the ground, so, as a taser was used on Mr. Warren, it was ineffective at halting him, so the officer pulled his gun and shot three times. After being shot, Mr. Warren is still growling and other backup officers arrive to tend to Mr. Warren. Mr. Warren was unarmed. The family reported they asked the officer who responded to the second call to leave so they could get the resource officer from the prior day to de-escalate. Source: https://www.kxxv.com/brazos/family-friend-and-mental-health-professional-weighs-one-incident-surrounding-patrick-warren-sr-s-death and https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-family-calls-officer-s-arrest-after-man-fatally-shot-n1254297
Was justice served?
No. This is a case that demonstrated the right kind of mental health response the day prior. De-escalation was not applied to effectively get Mr. Warren to get the help he needed and the family was unable to feel safe with him at home. On the first call the day prior to the shooting, a Bell County mental health deputy responded to the home and took Mr. Warren to a local hospital. The same deputy was not on duty on the Sunday Mr. Warren was shot, so the Killeen officer was sent to the home instead.To his credit, the shooter stood outside the house while backup was called as he saw the unusual, assertive behavior from Mr. Warren. If he had gone to his police vehicle and waited, perhaps the additional officers could have subdued Mr. Warren. The family of Mr. Warren retained a civil rights attorney, and believe the responding officer was ill-prepared for a psychiatric emergency. The officer is shown in the video giving Mr. Warren distance, begging him to get down and after repeated attempts to get his cooperation, he fired. Texas Rangers are handling the investigation into the shooting. Source: https://www.kbtx.com/2021/01/20/killeen-police-release-video-showing-deadly-officer-involved-shooting/