Texas policeman dies after being injured in the head during a shootout with suspected theft

Fort Worth police officer, Garrett Hull, died Friday after being shot and wounded during a shootout with suspected armed robbers.

(Fox 4 News / Fort Worth Police)

A police officer from Fort Worth, Texas, died Friday, less than 24 hours after being shot in the head as a result of a confrontation with a group of people suspected of armed robbery.

Officer Garrett Hull, a 17-year-old department veteran, died of his injuries just after 9:40 pm. CT, reports the Dallas Moring News.

"We lost a real hero," Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald told a news conference. "Someone who has dedicated more than one tour to this big city and who was killed for no reason by three known criminals – two of whom are currently in detention."

Hull, 40, and 10 other officers were on Thursday night guarding three men suspected of committing at least 15 robberies of mostly Latino bars in the Fort Worth area when the group actually stole from the Los Vaqueros bar.

The police confronted the suspects as they fled the bar. One of the suspects, identified by the police as Dacion Steptoe, then opened fire. Hull was shot in the head and Steptoe was killed when the other officers fired back.

Hull was transported to a hospital where police from across the region gathered to support his family, reported KVTV-TV of Laredo, Texas.

The officer leaves behind his wife and two daughters, reports the Morning News.

We did not know how many shots had been fired. The other two suspects tried to escape but were arrested soon after.

Victor Zepeda, owner of the Los Vaqueros Bar, told KXAS-TV that more than a dozen people were at the bar when two men wearing masks burst in and asked their clients to hand over their wallets and telephones to them. portable.

A surveillance video shows one of the robbers searching a man.

In a statement, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called the police heroes.

"We take for granted that we are protected by these men and women in uniform, who serve the community every day and fight against the criminals who took the life of Officer Hull," said his statement.