Lawmen Ambushed Outside Texas Tavern; 1 Dead, 2 Wounded

Authorities have announced funeral arrangements for a deputy constable killed last week while moonlighting at a Texas tavern.

Harrison County Constable Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Kareem Anthony Atkins died in Houston during an ambush on the night of Saturday, Oct. 16, while he attempted to nab a robbery suspect. The shooting wounded two other deputies.

Atkins, 30, recently returned from paternity leave. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

His viewing will begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston. The funeral service starts at 2 p.m. Klein Funeral Homes and Memorial Parks is handling the arrangements.

It's been 3 days since 3 @Pct4Constable deputies were ambushed & shot working security in N. Houston -deputy Kareem Atkins was killed.
Police are working the case full time but no arrests yet – and w/ each passing day friends & family say they're getting more frustrated. @KHOU pic.twitter.com/U4h2rMklUd

— Michelle Choi (@MichelleKHOU) October 19, 2021

During a Sunday morning press conference alongside Precinct 4 Constable Mark Harris, Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief James Jones told reporters Atkins died while working a “police-related extra job” with two other deputy constables — Darryl Garrett, 28, and Juqaim Barthen, 26 — at the 45 Norte Sports Bar on the north side of the city.

Following a report of a robbery in the tavern’s parking lot, Atkins and Garrett located a suspect and began arresting him when a second person apparently opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle.

Barthen rushed from the bar toward the sounds of gunfire and took a round to the foot.

Let us pray for the families of Deputies Kareem Atkins, Darryl Garrett, and Juqaim Barthen—three officers ambushed outside a Houston bar.#TXLege #TxLBC https://t.co/rQ8cQxJzgD

— State Rep. Carl O. Sherman (@CarlOShermanTX) October 18, 2021

Atkins’ head wound was fatal. Having been rushed to surgery with a gunshot wound to his back, Garrett is listed as in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in downtown Houston. 

Barthen’s wound was described as non-life-threatening.

Each member of the security detail had fewer than five years of experience in policing. Jones said it remained unclear whether the deputies returned fire.

Authorities said Saturday that they had a “person of interest” in custody, but officials haven’t elaborated on whether the individual was a witness to the ambush or the suspected gunman.

No arrests have been made.

Atkins’ killing occurred two days before the Monday burial of Houston Police Department Senior Officer John Wilbanks, who died last week from COVID-19 complications.

Wilbanks, 55, became the second Houston Police Department officer killed by the virus. 

“This is a terrible time. We’ve been through it, unfortunately, very recently,” Jones told reporters Sunday. “It never gets any easier. I know how they must be feeling, or at least I think I do. It just doesn’t get any easier.” 

A member of the Houston Police Department since mid-1994, Wilbanks was assigned to the Special Operations Division.

“All of HPD mourns the loss of Officer Wilbanks and we ask the entire city of Houston to join us in lifting his family in prayer,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said in a prepared statement released on social media Wednesday. “Today, we lost a man who is the epitome of what it is to be a public servant.”

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