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J’Quinnton Donye Hopson

Age : 38

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/28/2022

Location : Interstate 35W near Spur 280

City : Fort Worth

County : Tarrant

State : Texas

Agency : Fort Worth Police Department; Troy Police Department; Texas Department of Public Safety; Hill County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during hostage situation following vehicle pursuit

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/28/2022, two Fort Worth Police Department officers shot and killed 38-year-old J’Quinnton Donye Hopson after a police pursuit of approximately 115 to 130 miles ended in a crash on Interstate 35W near Spur 280 in Fort Worth. Hopson was a passenger in a Toyota Prius driven by 31-year-old Shaelan Jazmanique Hill. During the pursuit, police learned that Hopson was armed and that Hill was being held against her will. Hopson shot Hill before Fort Worth officers approached the wrecked vehicle and killed him. Hill subsequently died at a hospital.
The incident began in Central Texas after authorities received reports of a vehicle being driven recklessly northbound on Interstate 35 between Belton and Temple. Troy Police Department officers encountered the Prius as it entered Troy at speeds exceeding 100 mph and passing other motorists by using the left shoulder. Troy police attempted to stop the vehicle and then pursued when it continued north.
The pursuit continued north on Interstate 35 for more than 100 miles. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Hill County sheriff’s deputies also became involved. During the pursuit, police learned that an armed male passenger was threatening the female driver. Fort Worth police were contacted at approximately 7:20 p.m. as the pursuit approached their jurisdiction.
The Prius continued onto Interstate 35W toward Fort Worth and eventually crashed near Spur 280. By then, Fort Worth officers had been advised that Hopson was armed and Hill was being held hostage. Police initially had difficulty seeing inside the wrecked vehicle because of deployed airbags, crash debris and obstructions around the rear window.
Police helicopter personnel reported seeing Hopson holding a gun against Hill. Officers ordered the people inside the vehicle to come out, but Hill did not emerge. Police said a struggle occurred inside the car and officers then heard a gunshot. Investigators determined that Hopson had shot Hill.
Because Hill had been shot and remained inside with Hopson, Fort Worth officers formed a rescue team and approached the wrecked Prius. Body-camera footage released several days later showed officers breaking through the rear window and confronting Hopson inside the vehicle. Hill was lying across Hopson, and police described him as using her body as a shield.
The footage shows Hopson holding a black handgun against Hill's midsection. Officers repeatedly ordered him to remove his hand from the weapon and drop the gun. One officer can be heard repeatedly telling him not to do it. Hopson spoke to officers and at one point asked them to get his mother on the phone.
Two Fort Worth officers then opened fire, striking Hopson. He died at the scene at approximately 7:51 p.m. Officers pulled Hill from the vehicle. Because traffic congestion was delaying an ambulance, police transported her directly to John Peter Smith Hospital in a patrol vehicle. She died at approximately 8:02 p.m.
The subsequent release of the body-camera footage revealed a significant fact that was not apparent to officers during the confrontation: Hopson's handgun apparently could not have fired at the moment police shot him. A magnified view showed that the pistol had no magazine inserted and its slide was locked or jammed to the rear.
Police Chief Neil Noakes acknowledged that the video showed the weapon in that condition but said the officers could not reasonably have been expected to recognize it during the rapidly unfolding confrontation. Body cameras were mounted below the officers' eye level, and police maintained that the officers saw Hopson holding what appeared to be a functional handgun against a woman whom they knew had just been shot.
The shooting was investigated by the Fort Worth Police Department's Major Case Unit and Internal Affairs Unit, with the evidence to be submitted to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office for review. The publicly available records located for this update do not identify the two officers who fired at Hopson.
The incident is unusual because the police pursuit involved a person who was later determined to be a hostage rather than a voluntary participant. Hill was driving while Hopson was an armed passenger. A Texas Council on Family Violence review subsequently identified Hill as Hopson's girlfriend and classified her death as an intimate-partner homicide.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Two Fort Worth Police Department officers fired the shots that killed Hopson. Fort Worth police did not publicly identify either shooter in the records located for this update.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/suspect-fatally-shot-hostage-killed-by-fort-worth-police-chase-out-of-central-texas/287-33f9e4a4-d7c1-44e3-bab0-d5aaf797ea27
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/fort-worth-police-release-dramatic-bodycam-video-of-shooting-involving-hostage-on-i-35/3061660
https://www.kwtx.com/2022/08/29/high-speed-chase-i-35-central-texas-ends-with-hostage-gunman-dead-fort-worth-report
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article265076454.html
https://www.officer.com/on-the-street/body-cameras/video/21279518/bodycam-gunman-uses-hostage-as-shield-against-texas-police
https://texasmetronews.com/39700/armed-man-killed-by-fort-worth-police-didnt-have-magazine-loaded-when-officers-approached%EF%BF%BC/
https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/TCFV_Honoring-TX-Victims_Narratives_2022.pdf