Yahoo Finance Woman who police say was killed by suspect in Burleson officer shooting identified
A woman police say was shot and killed by one of the suspects in the shooting of a Burleson police officer was identified Wednesday by a neighbor and news reports.
Jerry Don Elders is believed to have kidnapped a woman and stolen her silver Toyota Tacoma after shooting a Burleson police officer multiple times Wednesday morning, according to the Burleson police chief. CBS 11 and WFAA-TV identified the woman with family members as Robin Waddell. A neighbor confirmed Waddell’s name to a Star-Telegram reporter.
Waddell was found outside the Joshua Police Department at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, more than four hours after the officer was wounded during a traffic stop, Burleson Police Chief Billy Cordell said. She was then taken to Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth and died, police said.
The name of the woman has not been verified by authorities. Joshua police declined to comment when a reporter called the department.
Shawn Alford has lived across the street from Robin Waddell’s son Phillip Waddell for two years. He and his wife moved to the quiet area off County Road 802 to “get away from the crazies,” he said.
“And the crazies came to us,” he said Wednesday evening as he recounted the timeline of events that led to Robin Waddell’s death.
Early Wednesday morning, sometime after 4:15 a.m. when patrol officer Joshua Lott was shot, police cars and helicopters swarmed the area near FM 731, on the edge of where Joshua and Burleson meet. Traffic was re-routed off 731 and onto the county road.
Alford’s and the Waddells’ homes are just south of where the suspects abandoned their disabled vehicle in the 700 block of John Jones Drive. When Alford heard about the manhunt for suspects, he checked his barn and the area around his house.
Phillip Waddell did the same, Alford said. Waddell told Alford that at about 7:15 a.m., a woman covered in water and mud banged on his back door. Waddell met her with a shotgun and told her to leave, Alford said.
At 8:15 a.m., Waddell texted his mother, who lived at the next house down, and asked her if she was going to go to the family’s ranch, Alford said. She replied she was going to sit on the porch and drink coffee.
According to police, Robin Waddell was dropped off at the front of the Joshua Police Station with gunshot wounds about 30 minutes later, at 8:45 a.m.
But her son did not yet know she was gone. At 9:15 a.m., Waddell walked down to his mother’s house and noticed her truck was gone. He thought she may have left to run errands, Alford said.
He and Waddell continued to check their individual property, “not knowing that (Robin Waddell) had been abducted and killed,” Alford said.
Alford left the house, but got a call from his wife at about 10:15 a.m. that something was going on across the street. He went home.
“(Waddell) met me in the yard and said, ‘My mom has been murdered,’” Alford said.
No one at Waddell’s house or Alford’s house heard a gunshot between 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., Alford said, leading him to believe that the suspects did not shoot Robin Waddell during the initial abduction.
Robin Waddell was a good neighbor who helped round up Alford’s dog once when he got loose on the Waddells’ 150-acre property, Alford said. Alford met Phillip Waddell the first day he and his wife moved into their home and, while they have not been close friends, they have always been neighborly, he said.
Alford’s wife will no longer feel safe checking on the livestock early in the morning, he said, because of Wednesday’s events.
“It’s just devastating,” he said. “Being out here in the middle of nowhere, you don’t expect that.”
Suspect’s arrest
A massive search began Wednesday for Elders and two other suspects — a man and a woman — who were with him when police say Elders shot Officer Lott. Police say Elders is believed to have carjacked Robin Waddell in the 8000 block of County Road 802 after his vehicle caught fire and he abandoned it nearby.
Alford said he believes that after the woman banged on Phillip Waddell’s back door, the two men walked through the woods to Robin Waddell’s house and abducted her.
Relatives who were outside the home Wednesday evening declined to talk to reporters.
Authorities arrested Elders, 39, after a car chase and foot pursuit at 2 p.m. in Gainesville, Texas, Cordell said at a news conference.
Another man fled from the stolen vehicle and a search for that suspect continued in the Gainesville area, Cordell said. The woman who had been with them was being questioned “and we’ll see where that goes,” Cordell said. Investigators are still determining the extent of the woman’s involvement, he said.
Elders, from Burleson, was wanted on the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer, a first-degree felony, and possession of a controlled substance penalty group 1, less than 1 gram, which is also a felony offense.
Officer recovering
Officer Lott, who was identified by police Wednesday as the officer who was shot, was recovering at a Fort Worth hospital and was alert and stable.
Lott began his career with the Burleson Police Department in May 2017.
“Officer Lott has served this community with great pride, and he has received several accolades in his short tenure with BPD,” police wrote in a Facebook post. “He was awarded two life-saving awards, one in 2018 and one in 2020. He was given a police commendation in 2019 for work he made to recover seven motorcycles at Burleson Power Sports.”
“Officer Lott was fortunate today when there have been other officers that were not,” the post said. “Our prayers are with Officer Lott and his family, the innocent victim’s family whose life was taken when it is believed the suspect carjacked her vehicle, and to all law enforcement officers across the country and their families.”
The police chief, who visited the officer in the hospital and spoke with him and his wife, said he believes Lott was shot three times, including once in the chest below his shoulder, and a “through and through” shot to his neck. He was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Members of the community who want to help Lott and his family can email lcauthern@burlesontx.com.
