Aubrey Hawkins
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Aubrey Wright Hawkins (1971 – December 24, 2000) was an Irving, Texas police officer who was shot dead at age 29 by the Texas 7 at a robbery of a sports store in Irving on December 24, 2000.
Aubrey had been with the department for fourteen months before his death. He was eating a Christmas Eve dinner with his wife and 9-year-old son when he got a call about the robbery. Hawkins came to the Oshman's that was being robbed in three minutes.
Hawkins went toward the rear of the store while another officer went toward the front. However, the Texas 7 were simultaneously departing from the freight door. They fired twenty to twenty-five bullets at Hawkins that went through the car body. He had no chance of escaping, since he had no time to respond. The men then dragged him out of the car door and shot him several times in the back and head. They then stole his handgun and climbed into the store manager's Ford Explorer and ran over his head three times, before taking off.
A fellow police officer found him lying next to his car. He was airlifted to the Parkland Hospital, but he died there.
His death gained notoriety for the criminal group, who were arrested in January 2001 in Colorado.
On July 12, 2001 the City Council of Irving, Texas voted 9-0 to rename the street behind the Oshman's where Officer Hawkins was gunned down. It is now Aubrey Hawkins Lane.
[edit] External links
- Officer Hawkins' Memorial on The Officer Down Memorial Page
- City of Irving, TX official website with street name change notification (under "Proclamations and Announcements")
- Aubrey Hawkins Lane Courtesy of Yahoo! Maps
