“In my career as a law enforcement officer, there is one constant—search a suspect. That one thing is basic, it is constant, and it is vital…I hate to be critical of law enforcement. They are my brothers, my family, but this incident hit very close to home and was preventable.”
The evening of October 9, 2017 put a very real face on school shootings. This case was not the “normal”—I hate to use that word, but in this situation, it fits—school shooting where the shooter comes onto the campus and assaults the students or teachers or both. The incident, resulting in the fatal shooting of Texas Tech University police officer Floyd East, was a normal everyday police action that went horribly wrong.
It started as the same type of police action that takes place every day in the US. Police are accustomed to it, and an encounter with a potentially dangerous and possibly armed suspect is a fact of life for our law enforcement personnel. Law enforcement personnel are trained to deal with this type of situation. Sadly, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that procedures or training or both failed and cost this officer his life.
It is easy to second-guess, be the armchair quarterback, but here, things are all pointing in the same direction. In my career as a law enforcement officer, there is one constant—search a suspect. That one thing is basic, it is constant, and it is vital.
To get a better feel for what happened that night and what led up to the shooting, we need a little historical background. The following has been reported and officially released by several agencies involved. As you read through the events, you will undoubtedly see issues.
Lubbock Police Chief Greg Stevens said Lubbock police came in contact with Hollis Daniels after a firearm was reported stolen from a Lubbock home the night before. Stevens said the people at the home said the suspect made a “very specific threat.”
It is easy to second-guess, be the armchair quarterback, but here, things are all pointing in the same direction.
A Lubbock police report says an officer was dispatched to the 3400 block of 28th street for a disturbance on October 9, 2017 at approximately 1:12 a.m. The officer was informed the disturbance was over the theft of a firearm.
The victim told officers Daniels was caught by another person coming out of a bedroom at the house on 28th Street around 3 p.m. The victim went into his bedroom and noticed his firearm was missing around 12:30 a.m. He told officers he called Daniels and asked him about the missing gun, and Daniels told him he was on his way back to the house.
Daniels and the homeowner were clearly acquainted. The report says Daniels denied stealing the gun. He told the victim, “If he would have stolen the firearm he would have already shot him with it.” The report goes on to say Daniels told the victim that “he didn’t fight fair and if a fight ensued he would kill him.” The victim said that is when Daniels reached for his waistband. The victim struck Daniels in the face and ran into the house. Daniels left the scene but soon returned. That is when the victim of the theft called police.
A short time later, officers pulled Daniels over, identified in the police report as Hollis “Reid” Daniels, in the 3300 block of 19th Street. The report says the officer searched Daniels’ person and found him to be unarmed. He told the officer he just got into an argument with one of his friends, and he thought he dropped his cell phone, so he returned to find it.
The officer then told Daniels the reason he was stopped and asked if there were any firearms inside of his vehicle. Daniels said no. The officer asked for consent to search his vehicle and Daniels refused. Daniels was issued a criminal trespass warning and released from the traffic stop.
The officers knew a weapon had been stolen. They knew they had the correct suspect. I am at a loss as to why this stop resulted in the suspect being allowed to go free and not even a search for “fruits of the crime” be conducted. This is the first point at which the shooting could have been precluded.
About three hours after Daniels was released, a report of a gunshot being heard in his dorm room at Texas Tech University (TTU) was reported by one of the dorm residents.
TTU police also received information from Daniels’ parents. The university counseling center told police that Daniels’ family had “called to express concerns that the student might be in possession of a weapon and making comments about suicide.”
Later investigation revealed a bullet hole in the wall of Daniels’ dorm room and a .45 casing on the floor.
TTU police conducted a welfare check on Daniels, knowing he was allegedly armed. When they entered his dorm room, they found drugs and drug paraphernalia. They also reported finding a pellet or airsoft type gun. Daniels was arrested for the drug violations and was transported to the station. Police reported no gun was found at the time. Later investigation revealed a bullet hole in the wall of Daniels’ dorm room and a .45 casing on the floor.
This is the second opportunity to have prevented this shooting of Officer East.
Daniels was transported to the station at TTU for booking. Now, in my over three decades of law enforcement, once a suspect entered the booking area, there was always another search, normally more extensively conducted. This is in anticipation of the suspect being placed in a cell or transferred to another facility. Here, in this case, Daniels was not handcuffed. Officer East and another officer were in the booking room. When the other officer exited the room, leaving Daniels and Officer East alone, Daniels pulled out the stolen pistol and murdered Officer East. He then fled the station on foot.
So many questions arise regarding these incidents. So many exit ramps to the event were missed.
Statements from TTU police officials are vague, to say the least. No one has tied down really if or where or when Daniels was searched. The department is saying that at some point before the incident Daniels was searched, but nothing more.
There can only be one conclusion drawn from the facts. I hate to be critical of law enforcement. They are my brothers, my family, but this incident hit very close to home and was preventable.
I am a student at TTU. As this event happened, I was getting the text updates, albeit an hour late, about the incident and the school lockdown. I followed social media and every report I could find to track the events as they were reported.
Think about that for a moment. A .45 caliber pistol is not a small item to hide. It should have been easy to discover with any reasonable patdown.
Within a couple of hours, Daniels was captured on campus. He faces weapon charges as well as capital murder. He has admitted to the shooting. When captured, he still had the loaded stolen .45 caliber pistol on him.
Think about that for a moment. A .45 caliber pistol is not a small item to hide. It should have been easy to discover with any reasonable patdown. Daniels was in police control from the time he was confronted at the dorm until the shooting occurred. There is no other possibility than that he had the pistol on him the entire time and no one ever detected it.
The TTU chief of police, a retired FBI agent, has stated that policies and procedures will be reviewed. A day late and a dollar short, if you ask me.
