The cold-blooded slaughter of Aubrey Wright Hawkins on Christmas Eve of 2000 was an incident that shook the Irving Police Department. A group of seven escaped inmates had been robbing the Oshman's Sporting Goods in nearby Irving when Officer Hawkins received a suspicious-activity call.
Leaving his family behind at the restaurant, Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins responded to the call only to be shot 11 times even before he could step out of his squad car. The Homicide for the Holidays episode titled Christmas Eve Killing showcases the horrors unleashed by the Texas 7 as the synopsis reads,
"After responding to a robbery at a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve, an Irving, Texas police officer is gunned down in cold blood. When the identity of the killers is discovered, the case explodes into a nationwide manhunt."
The episode re-airs on December 21, 2023, at 10 p.m. EST on Oxygen.
Four details about Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins' murder
1) Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins was at his Christmas Eve dinner when he responded to the call
According to Oxygen, Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins was having his Christmas Even dinner with his wife, Lori Acosta Hawkins, and son, Andrew Hawkins at the Olive Garden. He had received a suspicious activity call according to The Dallas Morning News during his dinner.
The former prosecutor of Dallas County, Toby Shook revealed,
“The 911 call came out as a suspicious activity and not an armed robbery. He was not in the mindset when he drove down there that there were men with guns.”
2) Officer Hawkins was shot 11 times
Officer Hawkins left his family at the restaurant to respond to the report at Oshman's Sporting Goods in the Dallas-area suburb of Irving, Texas. While the store was bustling with customers indulging in last-minute purchases for Christmas, a gang of seven escaped inmates took control of the store.
While the robbers took the customers as hostages and looted the store of $70,000, 42 firearms, and ammunition, an ex-employee had alerted the police which caused Officer Hawkins to wire up at the rear side of the store.
Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins' arrival coincided with the group's escape. He encountered a "barrage of gunfire without warning and had no time to take evasive or defensive action" according to the Irving Police website. He was found shot 11 times while he was still inside his squad car on December 24, 2000.
3) The gang responsible for the robbery was a group of seven escaped inmates
The group of seven inmates who robbed the Oshman's Sporting Goods store in Dallas was later widely recognized to be the Texas 7. The prisoners had made an outrageous breakout from the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas. They had committed a series of small crimes such as raiding a Radio Shack in Pearland before they went into hiding with false names.
The Texas 7 decided to rob the sports goods store and left with 40 guns, sets of ammunition, and cash amounting to $70,000 from the store's safe.
4) Four of the six inmates from Texas 7 have been executed for capital murder
Following the death of Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins, a nationwide manhunt was launched to track down the seven inmates of Texas 7 with the international broadcast of their details on America's Most Wanted on January 20, 2001.
The suspects were picked up from R.V. Park in Woodland Park, Colorado as several informants started dropping tips about their whereabouts. The Texas 7 posed as Christian missionaries and played loud Christian music.
While Larry James Harper committed suicide before he was captured, the other six including Joseph Garcia, Randy Halprin, Patrick Henry Murphy Jr., Donald Keith Newbury, George Angel Rivas Jr., and Michael Anthony Rodriguez were apprehended between January 22 to 24, 2001.
