Fort Worth police released body-camera and dashboard-camera video and 911 call audio, and answered questions at a news conference Thursday after officers fatally shot two armed men over the weekend.
Andrew Ponce and Ricky Lindsey were the fourth and fifth people whom Fort Worth Police Department officers shot to death in 2026. Emmitt Elijah Mayo and Jorge Contreras were shot to death in May. In the other fatal shooting, in March, a man charged at an officer while holding a broken bottle.
Registered sex offender fatally shot
Police were looking for Lindsey, 56, because he had a felony warrant after he cut off his ankle monitor in May following a previous conviction on offenses related to sexual assault of a child, Police Chief Eddie Garcia said.
Garcia said the Directed Response Unit was contacted by a private investigator about Lindsey’s location at the M&M Inn and Suites, at 101 Palette Drive in far south Fort Worth. As officers responded to the location about 8 p.m. Saturday, Lindsey got into a car and began driving away from the motel.
In a dash-camera video shared by police on Thursday, officers can be seen chasing Lindsey’s vehicle for about eight minutes. The suspect circled the area a couple of times then entered toward the end of the motel’s parking lot.
“Hands up,” an officer yelled a few times as Lindsey was seen putting a gun in his mouth. In a portion of the video that is unclear, he removed the weapon from his mouth and began rolling up his window. He then made movements inside the car, attempting to remove his seat belt and possibly open the door, Garcia said.
Two officers then fired their weapons, fatally striking Lindsey. In a blurred portion of the video, officers are shown attempting to provide medical care. Police said Fort Worth firefighters arrived and pronounced him dead.
Lindsay, who was wanted for failure to register as a sex offender, violated his duty to register multiple times this year, Garcia said. A Beretta APX air pistol was found inside his car. The two officers who shot at him are assigned to the Directed Response Unit and have been with the department since 2016 and 2024, he said.
Officer shoots man armed with knives
In the second shooting, on Sunday about 6:15 a.m., officers responded to a high-priority domestic disturbance call at the Carmen Apartments at the 9200 block of Renee Circle, in west Fort Worth. In the video shared on Thursday, a woman caller provided details that her ex-boyfriend broke through the front door of her apartment. At one point, the woman says, “He probably wants to kill me,” then she can be heard screaming loudly.
According to police, the suspect, 21-year-old Andrew Ponce, kicked in the door to break into the woman’s apartment. Multiple neighbors called 911, reporting the disturbance with the same details. Police said Ponce also had a previous history of assault against a police officer.
At some point, Ponce grabbed a knife and was using the weapon in a “violent and volatile” confrontation with his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend, “placing them in fear for their lives and causing major property damage,” Garcia said.
The suspect was chasing both victims through the apartment and parking lot with multiple knives, police said. In the body-camera video, Ponce was seen in the parking lot holding a knife to his own throat and two other knives in his left hand.
The first officer on scene gave multiple commands for Ponce to drop the knives, but the suspect could be seen advancing toward the officer, Garcia said. The officer then fired his weapon, striking Ponce, who fell to the ground and dropped the knives. Officers on the scene provided medical care until the Fort Worth Fire Department arrived and transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Both victims of the domestic assault received injuries and were treated on the scene, police said. Garcia credited the first responding officer with saving their lives.
The officer who fatally shot Ponce has been with the department since 2023, Garcia said.
The officers involved in both shootings were placed on critical incident leave, which Garcia described as routine for these types of incidents as Major Case Unit and internal affairs detectives investigate.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with everyone involved in these incidents,” Garcia said. “Any lost life is tragic, regardless of the circumstances. Families are grieving the loss of a loved one, and we recognize the profound emotional impact that these events have on them.”
“We also recognize the burden placed on our police officers, who were forced to make split-second decisions not only to protect themselves but also members of our communities,” Garcia said. “Our support is with our officers and their families as they process the impact of these incidents.”
Answering a reporter’s question regarding family members’ concerns for Ponce’s mental health, Garcia said that while officers undergo crisis intervention training, such techniques are best suited for static situations. In a dynamic encounter where a person is advancing on an officer with knives, those methods may not be effective, he said.
Staff writer Emerson Clarridge contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 12:15 PM.
Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Shambhavi covers crime, law enforcement and other breaking news in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She graduated from the University of North Texas and previously covered a variety of general assignment topics in West Texas. She grew up in Nepal.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Emerson Clarridge covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He works days and reports on law enforcement affairs in Tarrant County. He previously was a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, New York.