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Irving Weekly Title

Fort Worth, Texas News

Fort Worth SWAT Takes Down Man Who Took His Mother Hostage

On Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, at 11:00 p.m., the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) received a 911 call from a female stating that her adult son was damaging her vehicle and house with a hammer. During the 911 phone call, the call taker heard the suspect on the phone state that he would kill his mother if any officers responded.

Patrol officers were dispatched at 11:02 p.m., and arrived on scene at 11:07 p.m. As the officers walked towards the front door, they observed 29-year-old Taylor Grimes standing in the doorway holding a handgun. They asked him to put the gun down, but Grimes refused and told officers he was not afraid to die. In order to de-escalate the situation, the officers moved to a point of cover behind patrol vehicles and began speaking with Grimes by use of a P.A. system and a cellphone. During this conversation, officers attempted to persuade Grimes to put his gun down, come speak with officers, and to allow his mother to leave the residence.

A Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) sergeant and officer responded to the scene and attempted to speak with the suspect; however, Grimes refused to speak with them. The CIT officers were able to communicate with Grimes’ mother about the need for her to exit the house for her own safety. The CIT officers also expressed that they wanted to help Grimes and bring the situation to a peaceful and safe conclusion.

The FWPD SWAT Unit that has extensive training and experience in barricaded person situations also responded to the scene and took over scene security. At 12:18 a.m., one of the SWAT officers positioned himself directly across the street from the front door. He was responsible for providing overwatch of the scene by observing the suspect and reporting to other officers what he saw, as well as protecting all officers and citizens should Grimes behavior become dangerous. This officer saw Grimes holding his handgun at his side, as well as to his head on multiple occasions throughout the incident.

After communicating and trying to build a rapport with Grimes for more than two hours, Grimes pushed his mother out of the residence at 1:34 a.m. At 1:39 a.m., Grimes opened the front screen door of the residence and intentionally pointed his handgun at a group of SWAT officers located near the front of the residence.

When the SWAT officer providing overwatch saw Grimes point his handgun at the group of officers, he responded to the deadly threat by firing his duty weapon one time, striking Grimes. Medical aid was provided to Grimes, but he was later pronounced deceased on scene.

Major Case Detectives responded to the scene to begin their investigation. Investigators recovered a handgun that was found next to Grimes inside the residence.

It is important to remember that when officers arrived on scene and saw Grimes with his handgun, they immediately de-escalated the situation and moved to a point of cover. Officers spoke with Grimes and his mother for over two hours in attempts to end this situation peacefully and safely. No force was used until Grimes endangered officers by pointing his handgun at them.

Even though we are providing an update, please keep in mind that we are still in the preliminary stages of this investigation and that we are still working to collect information about the facts and circumstances surrounding this event. More information will be gathered in the coming days and weeks.

The completed investigation and all of the collected evidence will be turned over to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office for review and Grand Jury presentation; which is standard operating procedure for the Fort Worth Police Department.

The 911 audio has been censored due to profanity and identifying information.

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