TX DPS Shooting

For those of you who are unaware, a DPS Trooper was shot and killed
last night in Marion County subsequent a traffic stop. The suspect has
been identified as Brandon Wayne Robertson, W/M, DOB: 03/04/71,
6'2" 250 lbs, Red hair, Green eyes. Robertson is a former Texas police
officer, believed to be armed with high caliber weapons and over 1000
rounds of ammunition. I would think it safe to assume he could quite
possibly have body armor as well. DPS cautioned he apparently
initiates pursuit, then without warning abruptly stops and exits his vehicle
and opens fire. The Trooper killed yesterday evening was still in
his seatbelt. In addition Robertson took the time to shoot the video
camera in the patrol unit. Intel shows Robertson's cell phone may have
hit a tower in the Shreveport area, however, Texas DPS believes he is
still in Texas. Robertson was last driving a 1997 Blue Dodge Intrepid,
Texas License #039LCG.

Trooper James Burns was shot and killed following a pursuit on April 29, 2008.
AP

May 01, 2008

KELLYVILLE, Texas — A capital murder warrant has been issued for a former police officer who is the main suspect in the shooting death of a Department of Public Safety trooper, officials said.

Authorities issued a statewide search and a capital murder warrant for 37-year-old Brandon Wayne Robertson of Tyler on Wednesday, Department of Public Safety Trooper Jean Dark said.

Robertson is wanted in the shooting death of Trooper James Scott Burns, 39, who was killed Tuesday night after pulling over a car near Lake O’ The Pines in East Texas.

Burns didn’t have a chance to remove his seat belt as he stopped his patrol car, just before getting shot multiple times with a shotgun, authorities said. A passer-by later used the trooper’s radio to call for help.

Robertson was an East Texas police officer for seven years at departments in Rusk County, Overton and Kilgore, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education. He left law enforcement in 1999.

“I believe the words I would use would be that I am appalled that he or anyone else could do what he did to another human being in the manner he did it,” Kilgore Police Capt. Randy Han**** told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “That trooper didn’t have a chance.”

Han**** also told the newspaper that Robertson worked only briefly for Kilgore police, voluntarily resigning after wrecking three patrol cars.

Robertson was arrested by Department of Public Safety troopers as recently as April 6, when he was charged in Cherokee County with possession of a controlled substance. He posted a $7,500 bond the next day.

DPS Trooper and spokeswoman Sylvia Jennings said she did not know what prompted the pursuit that ended with Burns’ death. Jennings said in a story on the Longview News-Journal’s online edition that the video camera in the trooper’s car was hit and didn’t show anything but the pursuit.

Brandon Wayne Robertson remains at large.
The car had four bullet holes in its windshield and one on the hood.

Authorities described Robertson as white with green eyes and red hair, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 250 pounds. Authorities are also looking for a 1997 blue Dodge Intrepid with Texas license 039-LCG.

A group of East Texas businesses and district attorney’s offices are offering a $30,000 award for information leading to the arrest and indictment of Burns’ killer.

Burns is the 83rd state trooper to die in the line of duty, according to DPS. He is survived by a wife and a 5-month-old daughter.

He joined the Department of Public Safety five years ago. He worked before that as a state correctional officer. Texas Forest Service firefighter Ronnie Hamm, a longtime friend, told the Longview News-Journal that Burns thought he could better serve the community as a state trooper.

“We’re sad — so sad — at this loss, but at the same time we’re damn angry about what happened,” Hamm said.

Hamm said Burns issued a lot of warnings to drivers. “He hated to give out citations,” Hamm said.

Hamm said he last saw Burns on Monday when the trooper brought his daughter Micah to Hamm’s office.

“There’s a 5-month-old daughter that had the greatest dad in the world, and she’ll never have the chance to know him,” he said.

Kellyville is about 135 miles east of Dallas.