Granbury Shooting Witness Calls Fallen Deputy His 'Hero'

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Community Mourns Slain Sheriff's Deputy

Sgt. Lance McLean, a 38-year-old Hood County sheriff's deputy, was shot in the head at a Granbury home while responding to a disturbance call. He died Saturday. Officers honored him outside of John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth.

Hood County Deputy Dies From Gun Battle Wound

Sgt. Lance McLean, a 38-year-old Hood County sheriff's deputy, was shot in the head at a Granbury home while responding to a disturbance call. He died Saturday. Officers honored him outside of John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth.

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As the Hood County Sheriff's Department and town of Hico prepare to memorialize and bury a fallen sheriff's deputy, we are learning more about the incident where he was fatally wounded.

Sgt. Lance McLean was taken off life support on Saturday after being shot in the head at a disturbance call on Friday morning in Hood County, just four miles north of the Granbury town square.

On Sunday, one of the witnesses, who've agreed not to identify as he is the boyfriend of a sexual assault victim, told NBC 5 the details of what happened around 10:50 Friday morning.

"Whenever the gun was pointed at me it felt like slow motion, it was like you knew you were about to die in that second," the 17-year-old said. "It all seemed like a dream."

The Granbury teenager narrowly escaped with his life and has the scars to prove it.

"He pointed the gun at me and shot, if it wasn't for the pole that stood in front, I would have been shot in the chest," the teen said.

The teen says the bullets fired at him came after the suspect, Ricky McCommas of Joshua, had shot Sgt. McLean.

The teen says McCommas was there to confront his accuser, the teen's girlfriend. McCommas was charged last year in Johnson County for sexual assault of a minor. Sheriff Roger Deeds of Hood County said on Saturday that McCommas did show for a court hearing on Friday when the shootings occurred.

Deeds said there was a criminal trespass warning for McCommas not to go to the home. The teen says McCommas had never been there before, but knew when he saw him that there would be trouble.

"There was an argument, trying to tell her to drop charges, that it had destroyed his life," the teen said.

The teen said McCommas kept arguing and trying to agitate the situation. He says McCommas never displayed a weapon, not until Sgt. McLean arrived. Someone in the home had called 911 and said that McCommas had threatened to kill them if the charges weren't dropped.

"Everybody saw him pull the gun; everybody knew what was going to happen, everybody's heart dropped. The officer knew too, he had a quick second to react and it wasn't quick enough," the teen said. "After all the gunfire and gun battle and (he) left, we went and checked on the officer and we seen what happened. It's just something you can't forget."

"He kind of wanted to kill us all it seemed," the teen said.

The teen, who plans on joining the Army and becoming a police officer himself one day, now can't forget Sgt. McLean or the family he left behind.

"Everyone has guilt that the police officer had to give his life for us and I appreciate that so much," the teenager said. "I want to meet his family, I want to say thank you. He was a good man for what he did. I think that he's probably my hero."

The teenager plans on attending Sgt. McLean's funeral in Hico. He wants his family to know that he was a great man for trying to protect him and his girlfriend and her family.

The teenager also cleared up how windows in McCommas' white van were shot out before he arrived at Granbury City Hall for the shootout with officers that ended his life.

The teen says his girlfriend's father grabbed his gun and fired at McCommas after McCommas had shot the officer and fired several rounds at everyone in the family's yard.

The teen also said McCommas was an excellent marksman and that where he fired shots some witnesses had been standing only seconds before when they dove for cover.

The family of the teenager does have some frustrations from Friday's incidents. They say it took 45 minutes before deputies would allow their son to get medical care. While they were promised an ambulance would arrive, they transported him themselves to the local hospital.

While the fragment wounds were only three centimeters deep, Granbury doctors feared he had shrapnel in his lung and had him CareFlighted to Fort Worth. At a hospital in Fort Worth the teen waited an hour before doctors removed the fragments with tweezers. His wounds are superficial and he will make a full recovery.

"Happy that I'm still alive," the teen said. "Seeing as I have a second chance, I'm not going to let that go by."

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Police: Man Kills Ex-Wife, Her Boyfriend and Himself

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Police in North Texas defended their actions Sunday hours after a woman and her boyfriend were found shot to death by her ex-husband, who then killed himself.

Grand Prairie police said Jenea James had called once Saturday morning and again that night to say that her ex-husband, Dashun Atkins, was calling to harass her, according to a police statement.

After the first call, she declined to press charges but was given information on how to get a restraining order. After the second, a police officer called the ex-husband and told him to stop calling James.

Residents reported hearing gunshots after 2 a.m. Sunday, around three hours after James called police a second time. Officers found James, 37, lying in the front yard, and 41-year-old James Doyle lying nearby, the statement said.

James' two children, ages three and five, were in the house at the time of the killings, but were not physically injured. It's unclear if they witnessed the murders. Police are working to relocate them with other members.

Police found Atkins, 39, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home hours later, the statement said.

"At no time leading up to the shooting did officers have legal authority to arrest Dashun [Atkins]," police said in the statement.

Besides the calls from James, police said they also received a call shortly before midnight Saturday from someone claiming to be a relative of Atkins. That relative told police that Atkins "indicated he got into an argument with his ex-wife, and was saying goodbye," the statement said.

Officers then went to Atkins' apartment and spoke to him, but he "made no indication that he intended to harm himself, or anyone else."

Neighbors in a South Grand Prairie cul-de-sac heard guns shots around 2:00 a.m. Sunday.  When police arrived, they found James and Doyle shot to death.  It happened on Hill Top Lane at Ridge Point Drive.

"My daughter and I were up watching TV and all of a sudden I heard three shots," said neighbor Karen Sims. "There were six to eight cop cars shining through my bedroom window."

"We went outside and the whole entire cul-de-sac was roped off, we could see one body in the neighbors front yard," Sims said.

Neighbors had a clue the homeowner had relationship problems.

"She [James] bought the house and lived there by herself and then had a boyfriend move in and he had been there several years and they had two kids and recently he had left," said Beth Wells who lives three houses down.

"I think it was a family having a lot of troubles and I wish people would understand murder is not the answer to it," said Sims.  "They just cause many more problems for their children that will haunt them the rest of their lives."

Police spent hours gathering evidence inside the woman's home, interviewing neighbors and trying to find bullet casings in the yard next door where they found the woman's body.

"It's really sad that she had two little children," said Wells.  "It's really sad that these kinds of things happen.  It doesn't matter where you live or what economic situation you're in, it can happen."

NBC 5's Reginald Hardwick and Mark Schnyder contributed to this report.

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Fireworks Found at Rowlett House Fire

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Fire crews in Rowlett are investigating if fireworks are the cause of a house fire that forced a family from their home.

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Fire crews in Rowlett are investigating if fireworks are the cause of a house fire that forced a family from their home.

The fire burned a home in the 7800 block of Creek Wood Court late Sunday night.

Firefighters did remove some fireworks from the home and say it's a reminder about fireworks safety heading into the July 4th holiday.  Investigators aren't sure how fireworks may factor into the house fire. They'll be investigating that in the daylight Monday morning.

Crews say the smoke alarms did go off in the home warning the family that they house was on fire.  The family managed to escape with their pets and called 911.

Firefighters found the flames spreading through the attic and had to tear out the ceiling over a bedroom and bathroom to put the fire out.

Most of the damage is on one side of the house.  The home remains taped off until investigators can determine what caused the fire.

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America's Snobbiest Cities

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San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

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Can a city be both friendly and snobby? It can if it's San Francisco.

The City by the Bay made its way to the top of Travel + Leisure's list of America's snobbiest cities, despite also being the most gay-friendly city.

In their annual survey of America's favorite cities, Travel + Leisure asked their readers to rank 35 major cities by features like the attractiveness of its residents and the quality of its microbrew beer, but added some twists to determine a city's level of snobbery.

"To determine which city has the biggest nose in the air, we factored in some traditional staples of snobbery: a reputation for aloof and smarty-pants residents, along with high-end shopping and highbrow cultural offerings like classical music and theater," wrote Katrina Brown Hunt in blog post.

Rounding out the top five cites: New York City, Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Santa Fe, N.M. 

Click here to see the full list of America's snobbiest cities.

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Massive Water Main Break Floods Streets

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Dallas Water Utilities says they are responding to a water main break near White Rock Lake.

The break is at 2800 West Lawther in Dallas. Rushing water is causing flooding in the immediate area.

City water workers said a 84-inch line was broken and that repairs could take days. Workers said tens of thousands of gallons of water have been lost due to the break.

The pipe is described by the City of Dallas Water Utilities department as a transmission pipe that transports water from the area northbound to Addison. Crews said there is enough water in the system to avoid any loss of service, but the break will take two to three days to repair.

There have been no reports of damage or flooding to private structures or homes.

Police radio reports in the area described the break as "an amazing flood" that created a 30-foot diameter hole where the pipe burst.

Police said roads are being shut down at Loving Ave., but other roadways in the area may be blocked due to the flooding.

NBC 5 reporter Keaton Fox shot this Vine of the bubbling water from the break.

Experts say you can blame the hot dry weather, the Texas soil and an aging infrastructure for the water main breaks.

"The heat of the summer this time of year pulls moisture out of the soils causes them to shift, the brittle pipes can't move with the soils so they break," said Devon Tiner, President of the Fort Worth Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Water crews said the line that broke Monday was over 30 years old. Four water main lines broke last week as summer temperatures began rising in North Texas.

NBC 5 has crews on the scene to gather more information. As this is a developing story, some details may change as we uncover more information.

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Wall-E the Wallaby's Walkabout

Bob Fitch/GrandPrairieReporter.com

Apparently the wallaby was very excited and officers had a hard time controlling the wallaby while they waited for animal control to arrive.

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Wall-E the Pet Wallaby's Day Out

The Grand Prairie Police Department caught a wandering wallaby in a residential neighborhood on Friday.

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The Grand Prairie Police Department gets interesting 911 calls, but this one will be talked about for days.

Police in the Dallas suburb received a 911 call just before 7:45 a.m. Friday about a kangaroo hopping westbound in the 2200 block of Prince John Drive.

Officers arrived but didn't catch a kangaroo -- the animal was, in fact, a wallaby.

"I have been doing this for 20 years, and I will probably never see something like this again," Detective Lyle Gensler said.

John Richardson, the 911 caller, sent NBC 5 DFW a photo of the Wall-E the wallaby sitting at his front door.

Grand Prairie police said the wallaby was very excited, saying officers had a hard time controlling him while they waited for animal control to arrive. When asked how he knew how to catch a wallaby, Charles Munoz, the animal control officer, replied "Animal Planet" with a laugh.

The wallaby had tags and was returned to his owner unharmed.

"As far as we know, we don't have anything in our city ordinance that says you can't have one, " said Danielle Tate, animal services manager.

Wall-E's owners came to get him from animal control after friends saw on social media that he was loose. Their son-in-law said they believe someone tried to steal Wall-E because their fence was ripped.

Jessica Churchill, the owners' daughter, said her father gave the wallaby to her mother for Christmas after she said she wanted a kangaroo someday.

NBC 5's Julie Fine contributed to this report.

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Community Mourns Slain Sheriff's Deputy

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Hood County Deputy Dies From Gun Battle Wound

Sgt. Lance McLean, a 38-year-old Hood County sheriff's deputy, was shot in the head at a Granbury home while responding to a disturbance call. He died Saturday. Officers honored him outside of John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth.

Sheriff's Deputy Shot in Head; Gunman Killed in Hood County Shootout

A sheriff's deputy is in critical condition and a police officer is in the hospital after a shooting in Granbury.

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A Hood County sheriff's deputy that had been shot in the head after responding to a disturbance call has died.

Sgt. Lance McLean, a 38-year-old Hood County sheriff's deputy, was shot in the head at a Granbury home while responding to a disturbance call, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. McLean died from his injuries at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

As word spread of McLean's passing, law enforcement officers arrived from multiple cities to honor McLean's memory outside JPS Hospital. With their police lights flashing, officers stood at attention in the street as the hearse pulled out of the hospital.

"He was one of the best.  The very best," says Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds.

Deeds said he had big plans for McLean and expected to promote him through the ranks.

"He excels in everything he's ever done," says Deeds.  "Great guy who's always out to help, help people, help everybody.  He was always there when you needed him."

Granbury Police Chief Mitch Galvan knew McLean as well.

"He was just a tremendous leader.  He had a great sense of humor.  A very caring man," says Galvan.  "His family was his life and his job was his life."

McLean was a SWAT officer and field training officer who mentored younger deputies. He is survived by his wife and two children with special needs.

"This has been a tremendous loss," says Chief Galvan.  "You can't replace Lance McLean."

Two accounts have been set up to help his widow and two children.  They are at Hico's First National Bank and Community Bank in Granbury.

McLean will be buried in Hico but the day and time of the funeral are pending.

Chad Davis, a Granbury police officer, was also injured in the shootout. Davis sustained a nonlife-threatening gunshot wound to an upper extremity believed to be an arm or shoulder. He was transported to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.

Granbury Police Chief Mitch Galvan said Saturday that Davis was being moved out of intensive care. In addition to Davis' shoulder wound, Galvan said doctors found three bullet fragments in his knee.

The shooting suspect, Ricky Don McCommas, 49, of Joshua, was later killed during a shootout with Granbury police just 50 feet from the doors of Granbury City Hall.

Community Mourns Slain Sheriff's Deputy

On Saturday night, a group of Granbury citizens tied blue ribbons on trees, light posts and street signs near city hall in honor of Sgt. Lance McLean.

Joyce Mashburn knew Sgt. McLean through his work as a deputy and says his death has deeply effected her personally.

"If you ever met him, he was such  wonderful deputy," Mashburn said. "He loved his work, he helped out everybody he could help out. The only way I could think of to try and give back is to paint Granbury blue."

A memorial is also growing at the Hood County Sheriff's Office. A patrol vehicle is parked in the front grass and flowers and ribbons are being added to it to remember Sgt. McLean.

"We've lost a great deputy, heaven has a new hero," Mashburn said. "We're going to really, really, miss him."

DPS Details Gun Battle

DPS spokesman Sgt. Lonny Haschel said McLean was dispatched to a residence in Oak Trail Shores shortly before 11 a.m. When he arrived, he made contact with McCommas. Moments later, shots were fired and McLean was struck in the head, Haschel said.

Another Hood County deputy responding to the call provided a description of McCommas' van as it left the scene -- white with its windows shot out.

A neighbor told NBC 5 that McCommas lives in Joshua and drove to the house in Granbury, where he started a ruckus that led to the shooting. Deputies were then called to the scene, the neighbor said.

Granbury police officers later spotted McCommas' van as he pulled into the Granbury City Hall parking lot. It is unclear if McCommas chose to enter the parking lot or was forced there by pursuing police officers.

Haschel said McCommas then got out of the van and exchanged gunfire with Granbury officers.

McCommas was hit several times and died at the scene.

New Details Revealed on Saturday

Sheriff Deeds revealed on Saturday that the suspect, Ricky McCommas, had a criminal trespass warning to stay away from the home on Edgecliff Court north of Granbury, where Sgt. McLean responded and was shot.

Deeds said McCommas was due in court in Johnson County on Friday but never showed up. McCommas was arrested last year for sexual assault involving a minor.

Chief Galvan described the gun battle has happening so quick that he heard the gunshots from inside city hall, but that it was over by the time he reached the scene out front. He described McCommas as having an arsenal.

Witnesses See, Hear Gun Battle

Several witnesses who were working at a residence just 15 feet away from where the van pulled into the City Hall parking lot saw it all go down.

"He had a cold look on his face. He was going to go for them," Joe Vanderveer said. "He put it in park, looked at us, he got out. He turned and then the cop cars pulled up, because they pulled up about 15 seconds after he pulled up. And then the shooting started."

Gary Farina, who is opening a restaurant next to City Hall, a half block north of the town square, said he heard 40 to 50 shots.

"We kept hearing a barrage of gunfire," he said.

Farina and Vanderveer took cover on their outdoor patio before hiding inside the business. They said McCommas appeared to be wearing a vest, but they were unsure if it was a tactical vest or bulletproof vest.

"He definitely looked like he had a purpose in mind," Vanderveer said.

At least 50 evidence markers were placed at bullet casings and other evidence at the scene. What appeared to be an assault rifle was next to McCommas' body for several hours as the investigation continued.

"Those of you who've been to the scene saw how big a scene it is, how many details are going to have to be looked at, so it's going to take some time for everyone to go out and interview witnesses, take a look at physical evidence on the scene, send officers out and really comb those areas," Haschel said.

Haschel had no other details to offer about the shootings, saying only it was an ongoing investigation with large, multiple scenes.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and Joshua police spent hours Friday evening at McCommas' home along Joshua Boulevard. They removed several guns, boxes of bullets and what appeared to be body armor.

Neighbors said McCommas had been buying and selling guns to make ends meet since he lost his job as a security guard at Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist Hospital following a sexual assault arrest in August.

A man who identified himself as a friend of McCommas said he always carried a gun with him but was a nice man who was a good neighbor.

The case is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, the Hood County Sheriff's Office and the Granbury Police Department.

Multiple NBC 5 reporters and editors including Ben Russell, Chris Van Horne, Kevin Cokely,  Greg Janda, and Mark Schnyder contributed to this report.

Editor's note: DPS originally reported the name of the gunman as 60-year-old Richard Randall McComas and then later identified the gunman as 49-year-old Ricky Don McComas.

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BART Unions Moving Forward With Planned Strike

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It has been 16 years since the last time BART workers walked off the job, but with each passing hour the threat of a strike seems more and more likely come Monday.

The unions contract expires Sunday at midnight with a threatened strike to start the workweek commute. 

Saturday's negotiation session ended before 5 p.m. with the union saying that management was "a no show."  A union spokesperson told gathered reporters in Oakland that a strike was likely. 

Union officials said they would move forward with plans for a BART strike on Monday after walking out of the contract talks today.

"BART management is engaging in what is called "surface-bargaining," said Jose Mooney, spokesperson for Service Employees International Union 1021. "They're trying to appear in public like they are working to keep the trains running, but they're doing nothing to respond to good-faith offers by BART workers aimed at avoiding a strike."

BART officials said they had told the union they would have a proposal ready by 5 p.m., but when they submitted it to the mediator at 3:45 p.m., they were told the negotiators had already walked out.

BART spokesman Rick Rice said management delivered a new economic proposal to the mediator Saturday afternoon, and received a response from the union to a proposal made Thursday. He said the latest BART proposal increased the salary offer and reduced the amount employees would contribute to pensions and health care.

"We're disappointed," Rice said of the union's decision to break off talks.

Friday's negotiation sessions did not go well either. The session started late and ended at 10 p.m. with no reported progress. 

Talks are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. each day. It was not clear if any talks would take place Sunday. 

  Antonette Bryant with ATU Local 1555 said Saturday morning that negotiators had their suitcases packed and were prepared to stay at the bargaining table until a contract is negotiated and a potential strike was averted, but he session didn't last even six hours. 

On Friday, negotiations were supposed to begin at 11 a.m. but were delayed for hours.

They were pushed off until after the BART Board of Directors' meeting, set to end around 6:30 p.m. Both sides blamed the other for the stall.

BART's two employee unions, SEIU Local 1021 and ATU Local 1555, are asking for a higher salary increase: a five percent increase for the next three years, plus a cost-of-living adjustment. BART is offering a one percent increase for the next four years. The biggest concession from either side has been BART's decision to remove conditions off of the increase and make it a guaranteed raise.

Talks began April 1 and quickly soured.

"They refused to allow us to come to the table to work together, get resolution early so we would not put the public through this," said John Arantes, president of SEIU Local 1021. "Instead they pushed us off till May 13."

MORE: Oakland Unions Threaten General Strike

"We have been waiting since 11 a.m. We have not met with the district and we are still waiting," said Antonette Brown, president of ATU Local 1555.

But BART said the unions did not give a response to the agency's latest proposal Thursday night, and as of 6 p.m. Friday, still had not heard back. Rick Rice, a BART spokesman, said the agency finished responding to every part of the unions' requests, agreeing to half a dozen of them and changing others in hopes of moving the talks forward. Rice would not get into specifics.

"They're currently paying nothing for their pensions we feel they should pay a small part of that," said Rice. "We've got debt interest to pay, millions of dollars committed to new train cars already ordered. The benefits part of the package for all BART workers is $50,000 - it's one of the fastest rising costs in the system. It's something we can no longer ask taxpayers and riders to pay for."

But union leaders are calling BART's offer an "insult." Brown said union members gave back more than 100 million dollars in concessions in 2009 and deserve to get paid back. Union members also don't believe BART's statement that the agency has no surplus.

"In '09 they said they had a deficit. It ended up being 300 million dollars in the plus," said Leo Ruiz, a member of ATU Local 1555. "Now, they're telling us there's no surplus. There's 125 million dollars a year for next ten years. Who do you trust? They lied to us in '09. They're lying to us now."

If talks don't smooth out and a settlement cannot be reached by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, when the unions' contracts expire, the strike is on.

And that isn't just stranding the estimated 400,000 people who ride BART every day. AC Transit workers may also go on strike Monday morning. It has an average of 175,000 riders every day. Other transit agencies are set to try and help, including Caltrain and SamTrans, but it won't be nearly enough to prevent what could be gridlock on the roads.

If there's a strike, BART is set to offer a courtesy shuttle during peak commute hours, but that will only serve an estimated 2,000-4,000 people each direction each day. Riders are encouraged to plan ahead: telecommute and carpool. If people choose the latter, they can park in any of BART's 33 station parking lots for free.

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Woman Drugged, Raped in a Manhattan Hotel: Police

The Dream Hotel is on West 19th Street in Chelsea.

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A 36-year-old woman says she was drugged and then raped in a Manhattan hotel Thursday night, according to police.

The woman says she was drinking at the bar of the Dream Hotel on West 19th Street in Chelsea when a man started flirting with her. Police say that after she refused the suspect's advances he drugged her and then followed her to the room she was staying in, where he raped her.
 
Officials are reviewing surveillance video from the night of the attack.

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2 Teens Dead in Crash on Parkway in Queens

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Two teenagers died and another was seriously injured in a car crash early Saturday morning on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, according to officials.

Police say a driver who was later arrested lost control and hit a guard rail near exit 17, throwing three people out of the vehicle.

Two were pronounced dead at the scene, officials say, and a third was taken to New York Medical Hospital of Queens in serious condition.

Authorities say everyone in the car was between 17 and 21 years old.

The driver, 20-year-old Madosh Hansraj, was charged with multiple felonies, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving while impaired.

Information on a lawyer for Hansraj, who sustained minor injuries, was not immediately available.  

Authorities say 17-year-old Meera Dukharan and 18-year-old Anil Persaud, both of Queens, died in the crash.  

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