Photo Credit: Rod PradoNews
VIDEO: Press conference held on Public Safety in The Woodlands following Shooting this weekend
Today Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon, and The Woodlands Township Chairman of the Board of Directors Brad Bailey held a press conference at The Woodlands Waterway Square following the shooting that occurred early Sunday, February 23. Law enforcement agencies, first responders, and local government representatives were also in attendance to show their support.
Watch the press conference below and on the Hello Woodlands YouTube channel here.
Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle started the press conference by sharing, “We are here today to talk about public safety in The Woodlands and to let our community know that we’re daily working hand and hand to keep this community safe. We understand there are concerns about a shooting that took place this weekend in The Woodlands and we want folks to know that was a random act. That was not a planned attack and that person has been arrested and will be held accountable for their actions on Sunday morning.”
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon stated, “We started talking about just how safe not only all of Montgomery County is but this area in particular. It’s what some people would describe as almost like an astroid event – it rarely happens, right? And not only that it’s not even a statistical anomaly. When I was trying to find out if there was something similar to this that we’ve had in Montgomery County, we had to go back several years ago at a shooting that was at the Whistlestop and that was a completely different setup. It’s so rare that we have this type of violence…Because the act itself was so extraordinary, we (Sheriff Doolittle and Chairman Brad Bailey) got to talking and part of it was to assure the community it’s a one off, we’ve got the resources to handle this.”
The Woodlands Township Chairman of the Board of Directors Brad Bailey shared, “We have a great partnership with them [Sheriff’s Office, DA’s Office] and the Constable’s Office. It’s very important to The Woodlands Township and Township Board of Directors. Our number one priority is public safety. And we’ve proven it by investing in more than – we have 107 officers patrolling The Woodlands from Montgomery County – that’s our supplemental contract. We’ve invested in drones and license plates readers to give law enforcement every opportunity that have to make sure they keep the public safe. And maybe we need to do some more things, and the Board and The Township will be looking at that to keep things more safe. But, we have a great commitment between all of us [The Township, Sheriff and District Attorney].”
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office talked about the 100-officer Street Takeover Task Force that was formed in collaboration of 24 law enforcement agencies in response to the community and this weekend’s Lone Star Throwdown car show in Conroe. “We want folks to come to Montgomery County and enjoy what we have to offer but respect the people that live here.”
During the press conference, local media had the opportunity to ask the following questions:
Question: What is the status of the three victims involved in the shooting at Goose’s Acre?
Answer: [Sheriff Doolittle] “We have three known victims that suffered gunshot wounds…I do believe they are all stable and because the investigation is ongoing we will release information as it becomes available.”
Question: What are the results and statistics (arrests, traffic stops, etc.) from the Street Takeover Task Force this weekend?
Answer: [Sheriff Doolittle] “We made 59 arrests, most of them for Driving While Intoxicated, some for reckless behavior, some for possession of narcotics, things like that. When you have a certain number of police officers on the street which we don’t compromise on what can we spend effectively, what can we invest in our patrol and keep the community safe without breaking the bank. We have to be responsible with the money that we have to patrol the community, but we felt it was necessary to invest in this Task Force and to keep the community safe during this rally because there were thousands of people from out of the area here. So we took and dedicated every police officer that we could to keep the community safe to proactively patrol our streets.”
Chairman Brad Bailey responded, stating, “Ever since Sheriff Doolittle has taken over, I have seen a drastic change in the amount of police officers that are on our streets…We are seeing a lot more boots on the ground and that’s a great thing for our community.”
Question: Are there any consequences to those who helped detain the gunman and stop the shooter?
Answer: [DA Ligon] “What you don’t want to do is dissuade people from getting involved and saying hey look there’s a standard you will have to meet if you’re stopping an active shooter. I want the Montgomery County public to know, when you’re stopping somebody the amount of force that you can use is what the state grants. If you’re in fear of your life, and there’s an imminent apprehension of serious body injury or death, you can use deadly force to prevent that force being used against you.”
“I know that the incident unfolded within a matter of a few moments and I know that there were several brave people within the crowd that responded to get the suspect in custody. The fact that the amount of force that they used was immediately, overwhelming, and effective. Sounds like a good job to me, Montgomery County.”
Sheriff Doolittle responded, stating, “I don’t think we want to create a culture that enables the bystander effect which is a phenomenon where people observe and don’t act. We live in a proactive community with a lot of good people in it that will step up and protect you if necessary. I think its an admirable thing for them to have done that. They could have potentially saved other lives.”
Question: Are you hoping that the results of the Street Takeover Task Force spreads the word to people who are coming to Montgomery County?
Answer: [Sheriff Doolittle] “Ultimately, all law enforcement wants is voluntary compliance with the law. Educating people, informing them of what can and will happen and ultimately enforcing the law is what we are paid to do. And we do that without hesitation. We do that because we have a great District Attorney, we have great juries, we have great judges. People in our community support law enforcement and we certainly appreciate it.”
Question: What would you say to someone who is scared to visit the Waterway after this incident?
Answer: [Sheriff Doolittle] “I would tell them don’t let someone else dictate your happiness. I would tell you to live your life, to go about your day in this community and enjoy it. And know that you employ good police officers, you have support of the Township, you have the support of our District Attorney, you have our good Constables here, and you have other folks out in this community that demonstrated their willingness to step up and protect you, if you can’t. And know that if something happens to you, we will do the very best we can to hold them accountable.”
Chairman Brad Bailey added, “I would say, I think it’s always good to look at new ideas. Can we do something else different? Can we have a greater presence? We’ve already started to have dialogue already since Sunday. Could we have a greater presence in this district specifically? How can we go about doing that? And having that discussion and what the Sheriff’s needs would be to have a substation down here and what the costs would be, how could we do it. Putting that in effect immediately to make people see that we’re serious about this. This is not just something that we are just talking about. We are putting action behind what we are talking about. We [The Woodlands Township Board of Directors] have a Board meeting on Wednesday this week and I’m sure it will be a topic of discussion, but there’s a lot of side bar discussions that we are having right now and it’s important. It’s important to make sure that person you are talking about feels safe. It’s boots on the ground and we’ve got that in spades.”
Read more updates here about the shooting that occurred on Sunday, February 23 just after midnight at Goose’s Acre Pub in The Woodlands that is currently under investigation.
