Neighbors react to fatal shooting involving Arlington police

"The man displayed a handgun and fired multiple shots striking the woman, officers immediately fired their service weapons striking the man," said Sgt. Rosado.

arlington, Texas — Just a few feet from where Kecia Hollenbeck's four grandchildren play in Red Kane Park in Arlington, there is evidence of a deadly shooting. 

"They like it here, so that's why they kept wanting to come," Hollenbeck said.

As they played Monday morning, Hollenbeck could not help noticing the police cones surrounding the crime scene involving a domestic violence situation. 

Domestic violence is something Hollenbeck says she lived through for years. She was involved with an abuser and eventually had to leave the state to escape her situation. 

"The domestic violence I was in a situation like that for 18 years," said Hollenbeck, "And I finally got out of it."

Arlington Police responded to the park in the 6500 block of S. Cooper Street around 10:30 p.m. Sunday to a reported disturbance involving a man, later identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office as Shannon Boyd, 42, of Irving.

"The man displayed a handgun and fired multiple shots striking the woman, the officers immediately fired their service weapons striking the man," said  Sergeant Alex Rosado.

The woman, who police believe was hit by Boyd, was listed in critical condition, but Rosado said she was reported to be alert and breathing.

No officers were injured. Rosado said three officers were placed on paid administrative leave, and potentially a fourth who didn't fire a weapon.

Kathryn Jacob is President and CEO of "Safehaven" in Arlington. They have set up a 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-877-701-7233. 

One in 3 women in Texas will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, according to the group's website. If a partner strangles a person, they are 700 times more likely to be strangled by them a second time, and 800 more times likely to die at the hands of that partner, typically by gunshot. Safehaven often refers to strangulation as “the last warning shot” before homicide. 

"Our goal is to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable," said Jacob.

Between 2011 and 2020, there was a 15% increase in firearm-perpetrated intimate partner homicides in the U.S. and an 82% increase in Texas. In Texas, homicide-suicides increased 17% from 2021 to 2022. Forty-two percent of perpetrators killed themselves following intimate partner homicides. An additional 2% engaged with law enforcement in an armed stand-off and were killed by police. Men are much more likely to perpetrate homicide-suicides. In 2022, only two homicide-suicides were perpetrated by women. 

Safehaven works directly with law enforcement agencies to help reduce domestic violence. 

"Violence increases when a victim ends a relationship and the three months that follow. So that is when the severity of violence increases. It is when homicide increases," said Jacod.

The domestic violence shooting in the park involving police is just too close for comfort for Kecia Hollenbeck. Just like she did one day, she urges victims to get help.

"The longer you stay, the worse it gets," Hollenbeck said. 

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