FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth police officer who shot a man while off-duty has been arrested, police said Friday.
Officer William Martin has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the Fort Worth Police Department said in a news release.
On Sept. 3, Martin told FWPD that a driver hit his car and then drove off while he was driving southbound on I-35W near East Morningside Drive. Martin then started to follow the truck that had hit him, FWPD said. A complaint was filed against Martin Sept. 27 in Tarrant County.
Martin told police that the driver of the Ford F-150 then tried to ram into his car, and that's when he shot at the man driving the truck multiple times, according to an initial news release from FWPD. The driver was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
In the wake of that incident, Martin was placed on restricted duty, police said. Per FWPD, that meant Martin had been reassigned to an administrative position with no police powers, and his gun and badge had been taken away.
On Friday, Fort Worth police said after completing its investigation, they found there was probable cause to charge Martin with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Tarrant County Jail, FWPD said in a news release. The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office told WFAA that Martin did a "jail walk-through" and is no longer in the Tarrant County Jail.
Martin has been placed on detached duty pending the completion of an Internal Affairs investigation, according to the Fort Worth police. The department told WFAA that Martin is still being paid but is not allowed to enter any police facility.
"The Fort Worth Police Department is filled with officers who do the job right every day," the department said in a news release. "Our department will continue to hold employees accountable who do not meet the standards expected of a Fort Worth police officer, and in doing so, we will continue to be transparent and open with our community."
The attorney representing Officer Martin sent WFAA a statement following his arrest.
Officer Martin is innocent of the charges articulated in today’s arrest warrant. His actions were wholly in line with the duties of a peace officer under Texas law.
This case is a prime example of what happens when a police department places political expediency ahead of a thorough and complete investigation of the facts. Thankfully the case will now be in the hands of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office who we trust will handle this case appropriately and professionally. My only hope is that Officer Martin’s exoneration will be covered as universally and completely as his unmerited arrest today.
Tomorrow we will be releasing a more exhaustive response as well the sworn statement of Officer Martin that was ignored by Fort Worth Police detectives and noticeably absent from their arrest warrant.
On Saturday, WFAA obtained the exhaustive response referenced by Martin's attorney, which read the following:
As has been widely reported, FWPD Officer William Martin surrendered to the Tarrant County Jail voluntarily yesterday on the charge of Aggravated Assault. He was accompanied by his attorney P. Micheal Schneider. After routine processing, he was released on bond and looks forward to an IMPARTIAL review of the facts by both the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and the citizens that serve on the Tarrant County Grand Jury.
Officer Martin has been fully cooperative in the investigation of this matter and has provided to investigators both an oral statement and a sworn affidavit stating the facts as known to him on September 3, 2024. He provided both voluntarily despite his rights to remain silent and a total lack of transparency on the part of the Fort Worth Police Department.
While Officer Martin has and will continue to cooperate in good faith in this investigation it is questionable the same can be said for the Fort Worth Police Department. From the beginning it has been obvious that a conclusion was formed as to Officer Martin’s guilt and evidence was either accepted or ignored to fit that conclusion. From the moment it was leaked (by who?) that Officer Martin was involved in this investigation the department abandoned objective investigation in favor of political expediency. This rush to judgment was exasperated by uninformed comments by local community activists and members of the city government who had neither the facts of this case or the true understanding of Officer Martin’s prior history.
Additionally, Schneider Law Firm released three documents in order to "bring full transparency to the facts of this case."
The first document was a link to the case of Craig v. Martin, a case from December 2016 in which Martin was questioned for his alleged use of force. Martin was involved in the controversial arrest of Jacqueline Craig. Video of that arrest went viral and sparked outrage throughout the Fort Worth community.
Martin was suspended for 10 days without pay following the incident. Craig sued the city for excessive force, but a federal appeals court eventually ruled that Martin had qualified immunity. The case was settled in 2022, with Craig being awarded $150,000. She died in 2023.
The law firm argues that this prior case has played a role since the beginning of the current investigation and served as a motivating factor in Martin's arrest.
The second document the law firm provided was a signed affidavit from Martin, which recounts his perspective of what led up to the shooting.
Lastly, the law firm included a document with laws related to the incident, including Texas statutes mandating an officer act when a crime is being committed, additional cases explaining that off-duty officers are no longer considered off duty when a crime occurs in their presence and the laws which govern officers' use of force.
Fort Worth police said the investigation is ongoing.
Martin has been with FWPD for 19 years and was assigned to the Support Bureau at the time of the incident.