Who is Chad Walker? Texas trooper shot Mar 26 to be taken off life support after donating organs as final service
WACO, TEXAS: Authorities revealed Monday that a Texas state trooper who was shot over the weekend "no longer displays signs of viable brain activity" and will be kept on life support until he can donate his organs.
DPS regional director Todd Snyder said in a statement that Trooper Chad Walker was shot Friday evening while responding to an apparently disabled vehicle west of Mexia in Limestone County, 85 miles south of Dallas, ABC 13 reported.
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Walker was just about to halt his patrol vehicle on the shoulder of the roadway when DeArthur Pinson Jr, 37, of Palestine, Texas, emerged from the disabled vehicle and opened fire, Snyder said. The shooting happened on Highway 84 shortly before 8 pm on Friday, March 26. Walker was struck in the head and abdomen, and was airlifted to Baylor Scott & White's Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, about 40 miles away.
"After extensive life-saving efforts conducted by the @bswhealth medical professionals, it has been determined that Trooper Chad Walker no longer displays signs of viable brain activity and he remains on life-support until he can share the gift of life as an organ donor," the agency tweeted.
"This final sacrifice embodies Trooper Walker’s actions throughout his life and service as a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper. The Walker family is grateful for the continued support and prayers as they remain at Chad’s side," the DPS added.
This final sacrifice embodies Trooper Walker’s actions throughout his life and service as a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper. The Walker family is grateful for the continued support and prayers as they remain at Chad’s side. (2/2)
— Texas DPS (@TxDPS) March 29, 2021
After the shooting, Pinson Jr allegedly retrieved a black backpack from his vehicle and fled the scene on foot. The suspect eventually took his own life, Limestone County Judge Richard Duncan said Saturday.
According to a report by KXXV, Pinson had a long criminal history, including a decade-long sentence for armed robbery and an arrest for deserting the Army. In September 2017, Pinson Jr was arrested by the Palestine Police Department and charged with criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor, in Anderson County. In February 2006, he was arrested by the Crockett Police Department and charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, in Houston County, according to public records. He served a 10-year prison sentence for the offense, records indicate.
Who is Chad Walker?
Walker was a husband and a father of four, the Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association revealed. They said he had just become a father to a daughter two months ago. The decorated trooper was also a father to a 15-year-old son and twin seven-year-old daughters, per the report.
Speaking to Fox News, Association President Lt. Richard Jankovsky said Walker exhibited moral character. "Even in death, he will be providing life," he said.
At least 222 DPS officers have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty since 1823. The most recent was that of Trooper Moises Sanchez who died August 24, 2019, more than four months after being shot twice while trying to catch a suspect who fled from the scene of a multi-vehicle crash, ABC 13 reported.