East Texas

By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer

An alleged cop killer, who was once an officer himself, reportedly took his own life Thursday as police closed in on him after an extensive manhunt.

Brandon Wayne Robertson, 37, was found dead at around 5 p.m. from a apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound near the blue Dodge Intrepid that multiple law enforcement agencies had been searching for since Tuesday.

The car and Robertson were found off Texas Highway 8 on County Road 1347 near Morris Lake in Cass County.

A capital murder warrant was issued Wednesday for Robertson in connection with the killing of Department of Public Safety Trooper James Scott Burns, 39, who was shot multiple times inside his patrol car after a high speed chase in Marion County near Lake O’ the Pines Tuesday evening. Burns, a five-year veteran of the department, was killed before he had the chance to remove his seatbelt. A witness used the trooper’s radio to call dispatch.

DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said law enforcement agencies from across East Texas tracked Robertson through information gained from calls he made to a local 911 dispatch center.

Several East Texas businesses and district attorneys’ offices put up a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible for the trooper’s death.

“Some of those tips were very helpful. We also used other law enforcement aids in tracking him down,” Ms. Mange said.

An alleged accomplice, 36-year-old Jennifer Lynne Petrick, was taken into custody at the scene. Police said Ms. Petrick, Robertson’s girlfriend, will be charged and booked into the Cass County jail, but are not saying what those charges will be.

“There are a variety of things they are trying to figure out, what they can prove and go from there,” Ms. Mange said.

Dozens of East Texas law enforcement agencies assisted in the DPS search for Robertson, including the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, the Longview Police Department as well as district attorney’s offices from Bowie, Cass, Marion and Smith counties.

“It’s very gratifying when numerous law enforcement agencies are able to work together for a common goal, which was to apprehend this person,” Ms. Mange said.

Robertson, whose last known residence was in Smith County, was a former law enforcement officer in several East Texas departments. Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) records show Robertson worked for the Overton Police Department, the Kilgore Police Department and the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office. In 1999, he left law enforcement work and turned to a life of crime, serving four years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system for narcotics charges.

Burns was the 83rd trooper in the agency’s history to be killed in the line of duty.

His funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Linden.

Staff Writer Kenneth Dean contributed to this report.

Brandon Wayne Robertson
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