Deputy upset over Dallas ambush drunkenly fires gun at church

A Sommervell County Sheriff’s Deputy was fired after he admitted to getting drunk and firing his duty gun into the air and into a church because he was angry over the ambush on police in Dallas.

The deputy doesn’t face any charges because the pastor of the church that was damaged didn’t want to go through with charges.

However, the Ellis County District Attorney, where it all played out, is furious and feels the 27-year-old deputy was shown favoritism in how he was treated after his arrest.

William Cox was a Sommervell County Sheriff's Deputy on July 13 when he was crying and appeared drunk in the parking lot of an Ellis County church early that morning.

Ovilla officers responded to a 911 call for shots fired. In the officer’s body cam video, Cox can be heard telling the officer he fired the shots “cause my boys are getting killed in Dallas” and said “the black c--n started killing my boys.”

The Ovilla officer detained Cox and put him in handcuffs until a sheriff’s deputy arrived.

Cox confessed to officers he was upset over the police ambush, got very drunk and had to let off stress. His stress relief was to fire guns in a residential neighborhood in the parking lot of the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  

There was damage in the sanctuary of the church, where some of Cox's relatives are long time members.

Cox was charged with deadly conduct and taken to the Ellis County Jail. But on the same day he was arrested, the pastor signed an affidavit of non-prosecution. The pastor said he didn’t want charges filed because it’s all about forgiveness.

Cox was released from jail the next day without having to post bail.

FOX 4 received a picture of a blank brick wall after submitting an open records request for Cox’s mugshot. Cox also once worked as a jailer in Ellis County.

Ellis County District Attorney Patrick Wilson said this case is not like any other case involving law enforcement.

“Here’s another former Ellis County Sheriff’s Office currently working in a different sheriff’s department when he was booked into your jail. Here’s the chief of the Maypearl Police Department who was arrested and booked into your jail. All of their damn pictures are on your system,” Wilson angrily explained.

Law enforcement doesn’t need a complainant in all cases to prosecute. Discretion leaves the final decision to the arresting agency.

“This, in my mind, is a tremendous abuse of that discretion. And in today's climate, it’s inexcusable,” said Wilson. “I cannot understand how these facts escape the narrative of favoritism.”

Ellis County Sherriff Brown said the department was through with the incident and declined to comment.

The district attorney said his office will now conduct its own investigation.

“The criticism being lobbed against law enforcement and the criminal justice community in general in our community and our society today the foundation of that criticism is what’s illustrated in this case,” said Wilson. “And that is favoritism that some people in the criminal justice system get treated differently. How can I dispel that narrative when these facts completely support that?”  

The Sommervell County Sheriff's Office terminated Cox immediately, who had worked there since 2011 as a model employee.