For the first time, the attorney of a man shot by an off-duty Fort Worth police officer earlier this month is talking about the case.
This comes days after the arrest of Fort Worth police officer William Martin, who is accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon during the altercation.
On Tuesday morning, the attorneys for Samuel Christopher held a press conference and said they are naming him publicly to help set the record straight as more details emerge regarding the incident. Christopher was not present during the press conference.
“We are speaking today on behalf of our client so he can continue to recover in privacy,” said attorney Doug Hafer.
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DRIVER'S ATTORNEYS SPEAK
On Tuesday, Christopher’s lawyers shared their client’s side of the story.
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“Christopher was unarmed and was driving home from work to his family,” said Hafer. “Officer Martin, while out of uniform and driving his personal vehicle, cut in front of Mr. Christopher in the far left lane of southbound I-35W during rush hour. Despite rush hour traffic, Officer Martin stopped his vehicle directly in front of and reversed into Mr. Christopher's pickup truck.”
Hafer said Martin got out of his vehicle and immediately advanced toward the driver's side of Christopher’s vehicle while pointing a weapon at him.
“Officer Martin did not display a badge or otherwise identify himself as a law enforcement officer. There was no way for Samuel Christopher to know that the person pointing a weapon at him was a Fort Worth police officer,” he said.
Hafer said his client remained in his vehicle while Martin continued toward his pickup truck from Christopher's left side.
“Fearing for his life, Mr. Christopher turned his vehicle to the right to drive away from Officer Martin. It was then that Officer Martin opened fire as Mr. Christopher was moving away from and never towards Officer Martin,” he said.
Attorneys said Christopher suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the left side of his body, with one round narrowly missing his spine. They added that he is cooperating with Fort Worth police in the investigation.
“Despite statements to the contrary, Samuel Christopher is the only victim in this near fatal shooting,” Hafer said.
OFFICER'S VERSION OF EVENTS
In a sworn statement provided by Martin's attorney over the weekend, Martin said the driver "looked straight at me before the collision yet continued anyway,” was "causing extreme danger to the other drivers,” and rammed Martin’s silver sedan when both vehicles stopped on the freeway, prompting Martin to shoot.
He said he followed Christopher's car, even after reporting the crash to 911, because he noticed "there was no rear bumper on the red truck, and there was no license plate visible on the rear of the truck at all. If there had been a license plate, I would have noted that to 911 and stopped following."
"As an officer I knew southside patrol is chronically short staffed and if I didn't maintain visual contact with the vehicle, it was highly unlikely the officers would be able to locate the vehicle once they did arrive on scene," Martin wrote in his statement.
THE ARREST REPORT
An arrest warrant released Monday said Martin, who was off-duty and in his personal car on Sept. 3, called 911 to report a collision at about 4 p.m. on southbound I-35W. Martin said the other driver was fleeing the scene.
The arrest warrant said Christopher, the driver of a red Ford pick-up truck involved in the incident, told police he wasn't aware of the initial collision and thought he was being followed by the driver, who turned out to be Martin.
It said when both vehicles stopped on the freeway, Martin got out and fired three shots with his handgun, striking the other driver, Christopher, multiple times.
According to the warrant, Christopher drove away after being shot, and Martin continued to follow him.
It all ended when officers stopped both vehicles on a frontage road.
Police said Christopher was hospitalized and survived.
According to the arrest report, investigators said they interviewed 14 witnesses who were consistent in the following details:
- They didn't see the alleged initial crash that Martin said sparked this chain of events.
- They saw Martin chasing Christopher and thought it was a road rage incident.
- Witnesses say they saw Martin pull his car in front of Christopher's truck and stop suddenly, causing Christopher's truck to crash into Martin's car.
- They saw Martin get out of his car holding a gun and go to the driver's side of Christopher's truck.
- They saw Martin fire his gun into Christopher's car.
- Witnesses say they saw Christopher turn his truck away from Martin and drive away.
- None of the witnesses saw or heard anything that indicated Martin was a police officer.
- All witnesses said Martin was not in danger of being hit by Christopher's truck.
Martin is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is on detached duty with the Fort Worth Police Department as an internal affairs team conducts an investigation.
Martin was involved in the controversial arrest eight years ago of Jacqueline Craig, who called police for help and was detained instead. Martin’s attorney said three federal judges exonerated the 19-year police veteran of wrongdoing in the Craig case.
In a statement, Martin's attorney said his client's arrest was a “rush to judgment” by a department that formed a conclusion "as to Officer Martin’s guilt, and evidence was either accepted or ignored to fit that conclusion."
