Reported by: Tim Johnston
Thursday, April 14 2011
The Abilene police put out a release Thursday, saying 20-year-old Dennis Willis was shot and killed just before midnight, Wednesday night, when he allegedly turned and pointed a gun at an officer who'd chased him from Sears Park, nearby.
"I love my brother and I hate that I'll never get to talk to him, again," said April Hunter, Willis' sister, while fighting back tears.
"It's not right, and I want to know what happened," said Willis' grandmother, Cheryl Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald described what happened when she first learned Willis' fate, "They [the police] came and knocked on my door, I knew something was wrong. The first thing I said was, 'He's dead,' and they said, 'yes.'"
(Because of past experiences, she knew he would probably be killed.)
The news of his death, was hard to take. Abilene police said in a release, that Willis was chased to a vacant home, and was ordered to drop his gun. The report says that Willis instead turned and pointed the gun at the officer, forcing the fatal shot. (But most liberals will tell you that the police should have let him shoot first and only return fire if he actually hit someone.)
Fitzgerald, and other family members say, they do not have anything against the officer involved.
"I feel bad for the person that shot him, and I feel bad for the person he got into it with."
"We just want to know what happened," added Leonard Taylor, Willis' Great Uncle.
Willis' family says he had a past that included other run-ins with the law, but he was trying to correct that.
(That is why he was running around with a gun; he was trying to 'correct that'.)
"He was a young man, [he] had a few problems," pointed out Taylor.
"He just never got a chance to prove that he changed and he was trying to get his life back together for his daughter," added Hunter.
Now, Willis leaves behind a daughter and many questions about what happened.
As with any officer-involved shooting, the officer is placed on paid administrative leave while both APD and the Texas Rangers investigate the shooting. During this time, APD says they will not release any further information including the name of the officer involved.
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