A career criminal, whose sister noted that “his favorite thing was to fight,” was arrested in Euless, Texas, last Monday morning for public intoxication. Despite his lengthy rap sheet filled with violent crimes, Jorge Brian Gonzalez was back out on the streets a little more than 24 hours later. High on methamphetamine, Gonzalez was seeking a fight.
First, he went looking for guns—breaking into a home and stealing a cache of firearms. Then he went looking for victims—uniformed victims. Gonzalez hid in a drainage ditch and fired shots into the air, hoping to ambush responding law enforcement.
Officer David Hofer was first on the scene, and Gonzalez opened fire—killing Hofer before other officers fatally shot Gonzalez. In two years on the force, Hofer had received eight letters of commendation. But his promising light was extinguished at the hands of a criminal who should’ve still been behind bars.
