Fort Worth police ID suspect, obtain arrest warrant in fatal West 7th district shooting
Fort Worth police said Monday afternoon that they identified a suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest in Saturday night’s homicide on Crockett Street.
Police announced Monday evening that the suspect, Karlove Walker, 29, turned himself in after police announced the warrant. He faces a murder charge in the shooting death of Bryson Rodgers, 29, of Fort Worth.
Police said Rodgers and Palmer knew each other, and that the suspect pulled a gun and shot Rodgers multiple times during a fight between the two men in the West 7th entertainment district.
Police have not yet released a copy of the arrest warrant affidavit.
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Witnesses at the scene in the 2900 block of Crockett Street told the Star-Telegram they heard a friend who was with Rodgers tell officers that the victim and the shooter knew each other.
Police did not reveal how the two knew each other or what they argued about, but witnesses said Rodgers’ friends were able to identify the shooter.
Investigators do not believe Rodgers or Palmer spent any time at the bars in the West 7th district that night, Fort Worth police Sgt. Jason Spencer said at Monday’s news conference.
About five shots were fired shortly after 10 p.m. that night, sending that area of the busy nightlife district into turmoil. People on sidewalks rushed into nearby businesses while people in those buildings took cover or ran for back exits. Police were on the scene within a minute.
Paramedics were quick to arrive, too. They put bandages on Rodgers’ chest and side and then performed CPR before telling friends Rodgers would be taken to an area hospital.
Rodgers died at that hospital, according to Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office records.
An employee at a restaurant near the shootings said she saw a man with a gun, wearing a tan or beige shirt and white pants, running toward Foch Street before turning around and fleeing back toward Norwood Street. Customers and employees in businesses were told by police to stay indoors and away from windows and were allowed to leave around 11 p.m.
Friends posting to social media Saturday night and Sunday morning expressed disbelief that Rodgers, also known by the nickname Breadloaf, was dead. They described him as a friendly person who they could call at any time. He could always be counted on to make others laugh and avoided conflict whenever he could, they wrote.
Safety in the entertainment district
Spencer said police take safety in the West 7th entertainment district seriously. The department has a dedicated division of officers whose primary job is patrolling the West 7th district on weekend nights. Last year, police confiscated more than 100 guns, he said.
Fort Worth police routinely patrol the West 7th area at night. The city of Fort Worth boosted police presence in the entertainment district last fall after a shooting that killed TCU student Wes Smith outside a bar on Bledsoe Street in September. Police arrested 21-year-old Matthew Purdy, who they say admitted to shooting Smith, a stranger to him, without providing any clear reason why.
The area sees between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors on a single weeknight, Spencer said. Other security measures by police include more than 20 cameras used by the Real Time Crime Unit to surveil the area.
New measures coming include the ambassador program, already in use in Downtown Fort Worth, to give people directions, connect people to social services and inform police of any trouble or potential problems in the area. Police are also looking forward to the introduction of new traffic balusters that can be raised and lowered and free up officers who would otherwise be blocking off streets at the end of busy nights.
City leaders also unveiled plans to limit the concentration of bars and clubs in the area, create a West Seventh ambassador program like the one downtown, add more street lights, establish safety training for bar staff and use off-duty police officers to check bar patrons for firearms.
Fort Worth also contributed $50,000 to a $150,000 safety study looking at the city’s entertainment districts, which, in addition to West 7th, includes the Stockyards, Near Southside and downtown.
