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Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement
2024: Ranked #1 Law Podcast
Host: Tyler Owen and Clint McNear discussing topics, issues, and stories within the law enforcement community. TMPA is the voice of Texas Law Enforcement, focused on protecting those who serve. Since 1950, we have been defending the rights and interests of Texas Peace Officers by providing the best legal assistance in the country, effective lobbying at state and local levels, affordable training, and exemplary member support. As the largest law enforcement association in Texas, TMPA is proud to represent 33,000 local, county and state law enforcement officers.
Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement
#111- "The Gardner Brothers’ Call to Duty"
In this unforgettable episode, we sit down with the legendary Gardner brothers—Wendall, Clint, Darrell, Kenneth, and Vic—whose combined service with the Tyler Police Department stands as a true testament to family, courage, and commitment. Each brother took a unique path into law enforcement, yet all shared the same unwavering sense of duty to protect and serve.
We dive into their early influences, what drew them to the badge, and the powerful bond that shaped their careers. The episode takes an emotional turn as Ken, our current TMPA President, and Clint recount being shot in the line of duty. In a twist of fate that speaks to the deep connections within their family and the profession, we hear about the moment Vic, then serving as a Dispatcher, was the one working the radio when Ken was ambushed.
This is more than a story about policing—it’s about brotherhood, sacrifice, and the unbreakable thread that binds those who serve. Don’t miss this moving tribute to a family that defines what it means to hold the line.
email us at- bluegrit@tmpa.org
The day Ken got shot. I was off when Clint got shot, but when Ken got shot I was at work and then everything was a blur. After they said it was Ken, I don't remember anything else.
Speaker 2:There was a guy in the bathroom, but when she walked out she pulled the door to him, and Steve never opened the door to see if he was in there. If he did, he probably would have been shot right between the eyes, and so, as Steve was walking back across the room, that guy came out and just started firing Welcome back viewers, watchers, listeners.
Speaker 3:I'm your host, tyler Owen. As you can see, this is the first time the Blue Grit Podcast has ever had six people in one room. For those that don't know and think that this is a large room, it is not. Kevin Lawrence and the, I guess, then president, when this thing was built, put us in a broom closet, and so today it's not working out too well, but we have an awesome episode up today the Gardner family, the pedigree of law enforcement uh family there in east Texas, all with Tyler Police Department and our very own president, el presidente, ken Gardner hello Tyler, how are you good man?
Speaker 4:what's going? Oh, not a whole lot. Came down late last night, got up early this morning and here we are.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's not a, it's not a. I wouldn't say it's a decent, pretty drive, but man, it's long if you come to Backway down 31. Is that how y'all came?
Speaker 4:No, we did not. I think we came. We came through Buffalo and Franklin and came that way from Tiley.
Speaker 3:Well, we have been trying to plan this episode probably for a year to discuss this remarkable story. It's kind of unique and you'll completely understand whenever we dive off into it. But why don't you go ahead and show your brothers, and then we're going to talk a little bit history, Me and through all of yes.
Speaker 4:Well, first of all, my name's Kenneth Gardner. I work at Tyler PD. I've been there 28 years. This year will be my 29th. How about I let them introduce themselves? Yeah, that's fine. Okay, and we'll go. You'll have to speak into that.
Speaker 5:I'm Darrell Gardner. I've been with Tyler PD for 28 years as well, wow, I'm Vic Gardner.
Speaker 1:I was with the police department for 10 years, left in 07.
Speaker 2:I'm Clint Gardner, I'm with Tyler PD and I've been there 30 years.
Speaker 6:I'm Wendell Gardner. I worked for Tyler PD for 25 years retired and now I work Tyler ISD in an elementary school as a SRO. As an SRO, love it.
Speaker 3:I can't think this probably is the only family that I know of that have five brothers that work we just said this off camera that work for an agency and survive it One, but to not kill the police chief or one of y'all. Get you know, can I mean? I just be honest, right, what? Who? Who kicked off the law enforcement career and how did all this start?
Speaker 2:That would be me career. And how did all this start? That would be me, um, actually daryl. When he was in high school, I think. After he he mentioned going to the highway patrol after he graduated. At one point, I think he fell in love and they got married and that changed. So, uh, I went to work for the smith county sheriff's department in 92 and worked for them for two and a half years and then, uh, once I got certified, I switched over to tyler pd what?
Speaker 3:what was there a reason for the change? Or use more money or money?
Speaker 2:yeah and uh. You know and uh, once I got certified with the county, I'd ride out. You know, I went as I was a certified deputy, but I, I wasn't on patrol just yet, I worked in the jail. So we were, uh, we rode, and there were only two of us covering the whole county at the time two.
Speaker 3:So so so for those that don't know, uh, smith county I'll I'll argue this all day long smith county besides, well, I guess, to the east of coffin county, all the way to louisiana line and harrison county, smith county is very, very, very large, it's probably the largest county in East Texas and it's the county seat for Tyler, and so I would guesstimate how many people probably live in Smith County at that time? Well over 150,000. Oh yeah, easy, easy, right. So you've got two deputies. That's covering an entire county. That's probably approximately 1,000 square mile county.
Speaker 2:Is that accurate? Yeah, it's a very large county. So just to put things in perspective, yeah, so, uh, I was working, I was riding double with an officer down south and of course they sent us all the way north, which took us down again 45 minutes. Yeah, you know, and I'm like, yeah, I don't have backup, you know, right there with me. So when I uh decided to go to tyler pd, you, you had backup within a couple of minutes.
Speaker 3:Right, right, that's, that's my reason. Well, I, I do know this, that you know I am close to certain board members more than others. Uh, ken Gardner and me have have maintained a great relationship and great friendship and I consider him a dear friend and, uh, in saying that, I know that he's a he's big on his faith, uh, and he's big on his family and it's very obvious to me when being around him and his family and the interactions that I do have with them. That's number one priority. What was it like growing up in the Gardner house as kids? I'm sure there was a few scuffles here and there, a few fights. What was it like growing up in the Gardner house? It was a blast.
Speaker 4:I was telling them and they'll probably tell you the same thing we never had a lot of money, because dad was a Baptist preacher and mom was an accountant. We never had a lot of money, but we didn't know it. Yeah Right, but we had. We had our own basketball team. Right, we would play, we would play till dark and then we'd cut the lights on in the backyard and keep on playing. So I they can, they can speak for themselves, but it was, we had the most fun and didn't know we didn't have any money, but but we had a blast was there ever an interest, I guess, for y'all, like playing cops and robbers?
Speaker 3:I mean, was it kind of always in the back of y'all's mind, or as a joke as kids or how did was no?
Speaker 5:uh, was he playing baseball, or yeah, basketball or something else? We didn't really play cops and robbers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, so obviously you guys graduated. You're now working for Smith County and then going over to Tyler PD, who was second in line to fall for the trick to start their career in law enforcement and jump forward with it.
Speaker 4:Yes, it was me. Yeah, I started about three or four months after Clint at the Smith County Sheriff's Office and, like him, I got certified in. I started in 92, got certified in 94, and then switched over to Tyler PD in 96. Did you all work in the jail starting off?
Speaker 3:We did. That's man best experience, yeah, yeah, well, and I think to a certain degree, I think it should be mandatory in certain areas, because you learn how to communicate, learn how to interact with people, and there's a little sense of humbleness when you're walking into a tank full of violent criminals just by yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that, and you also, and I agree with you. And I tell people what we ought to do is get a program with the Sheriff's Department. When we get new hires, they work in the jail for six months. That way they get jail, way they. It's not a bad idea the jail does, because they're always shorthanded, but you also learn. Like I said, you learn how to talk with them, but learn their tricks. And when you learn them while they're in jail because you know they're going to get back out, yeah, and you know, you just learn their games. And so when I got out on the street and ken can probably say this you knew them from the jail, right, you know.
Speaker 3:So when they tried a lot to you, it's like no man, you were in the jail so we, yeah, you get taken advantage of a lot when you, when you hit the streets and you're just, you're just so green, and especially with you guys. I'll be honest with you guys. I've got friends that have their parents were, uh, in some type of ministry and uh, y'all are, y'all are not exposed to certain things that others would be, and so I, I guess to be you're kind of protected in a sense, you know, and so you guys, being cops, I'm sure there were certain moments where you kind of thought you could trust or thought you could listen, or thought you could believe somebody of what they're telling you, and the fact is that they're trying to get over on you.
Speaker 3:It didn't take long to figure their intentions out Right, no, for sure, for sure. Well, what were you guys thinking you got? You guys thinking you got two brothers now in law enforcement. You were like man, that's a team or dream that I want to join or jump on, or how did that work?
Speaker 5:I went in next in 97. Started working the streets. The advantage that I had is a lot of the guys that I was running into knew Clayton Kenneths and thought I was one of them. They didn't try to lie to me because they already thought I knew who they were.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. It worked out well. Was there ever a point early on in y'all's career that y'all were on calls together? We had to ride together. Man, we all rode together a lot. Just the double man, double man. Yeah, how would the complaint process work on that? Just tell them you're gardening.
Speaker 4:Yeah, hey, look here what's your name gardener. Yeah, and move on. That's funny, but I'm having you he's always sergeant.
Speaker 6:I didn't want to get caught on something. I'd sign clint's name to paperwork that's, that's good stuff.
Speaker 3:Well, you're the older brother, were you the? You're the oldest, and so did you just kind of say, well again, uh, I need to join the team now, my my, all, my all my family's in this deal and jump in, or well.
Speaker 6:I was tired of doing what I was doing for a living. I'm a registered nurse and, uh, I needed a change. Went home one day and told my wife said I think I'm going to change jobs. She said are you going to go down there and work with your brothers? I said I imagine I will, and that was 27 or 28 years ago.
Speaker 3:Wow, and then I guess that's what sparked you to jump in.
Speaker 1:I was in there right after Darrell Wendell was after me, so I had friends that worked in dispatch and they told me to come apply and the boys already worked there.
Speaker 3:So I applied and got on, and we're going to dive off into this because both Daryl and our Clint and Kenneth both have had a major incident happen on duty. What was it like being in a position these are your brothers I mean literally your brothers, right, your blood. What was it like to send them to calls that were unknown?
Speaker 1:Uh, you know that has obviously a danger involved with it, but to send one of your loved ones into a situation that you know is very volatile and very dangerous, Well, at work you, you realize it, but you don't think about it because your job is to keep everybody safe and get everybody home at the end of the night, and so it really was just the job. The day ken got shot, I was off. When clint got shot, ken got shot, I was at work and then everything was a blur.
Speaker 3:After they said it was ken, I don't remember anything else and you were dispatching and you, can you talk about that, that incident that day?
Speaker 1:well, it was about I guess six, I guess 6 o'clock, a little after 6. And the bike team came on and they were over there in the apartment complex and then they said shots fired and officer down and everybody's in dispatch scrambling trying to figure out what's going on and everybody's on their way over there and I'm like, where's Ken? Where's Ken? Nobody would say anything and some lady turned around and looked at me and she said Ken's been shot. And at that time it was over. I don't even remember leaving the police department. One of my friends worked at city court and she showed up and picked me up and took me to the hospital. But I don't remember anything else, and this is obviously.
Speaker 3:there were cell phones, but it wasn't. They weren't like they are today. At what point did you feel obligated or or um the need to know, start notifying the brothers and start notifying the family?
Speaker 1:I think they knew automatically. I heard somebody.
Speaker 5:I'm working a part-time job and I heard it on radio and I met ken. I was at the hospital before ken.
Speaker 3:I've got there let's talk about that. Let's talk about the feeling that you're sitting in the squad car on an off-duty job and your brother's just been shot. Talk about the emotions and feelings that will kind of go through your mind at that point.
Speaker 5:Well, of course you're worried, not knowing how bad it is, but you're just praying that everything's going to be all right. When I got there, it seemed like I waited 30 minutes for him to show up and I was wondering why I was taking the ambulance. They probably didn't take them that long, but that's the way it felt. And then, um, see him come through the door and get him into the room. And I'm there with him. The doctor doctor asked me to step out of the room for minutes. I stepped out and next thing I heard was kenneth scream. At that point I didn't know what was going on. The doctor was putting a chest tube in, I think, maybe filling around inside to see what kind of damage there was. So when I went back in, he's like that was a good sign. Him screaming like that, that was a good sign.
Speaker 3:At what point and I go back to the family aspect again you guys are very much close to your parents, point uh, and I go back to the family aspect again you guys are very much close to your parents. Yeah, talk about the moment where both of them walked in and you're having to explain everything from a cop's perspective and kind of dumb it down for a civilian I really don't even remember.
Speaker 5:I don't. I don't know how my mom and dad found out, but they quit when they called our step.
Speaker 2:What it was is I was uh actually on a call uh at our mall and my wife and my oldest son, they were sitting out in the parking lot because I was just gonna meet her because she's headed to her parents. I was gonna after I finished my call, I was gonna fill up the truck for her so she could drive you know to her parents. And I'm inside. I had another officer outside talking to a different uh subject and he walks in. He, hey, we got an officer down up north. He said you go and I'll finish this call.
Speaker 2:So I jump in my car and I burn out lights and siren. So they calls me, says what's going on, and probably done 80, 90 miles an hour trying to get up there. And all of a sudden I hear on the radio. They said who's hit and they hollered Gardner. I knew it was Ken and I told Renee. I said Ken has been shot. I think she called Mom and Dad and I told her. I said I don't know. So I got up there and when I got to the scene, man, the roads were blocked. I couldn't hardly get up there. So I just parked in the road, jumped out, get up there. They were putting him on a backboard, so he was laying on his side and then he started saying he's spitting up blood or something, and I rode in the ambulance with him to the hospital and I don't remember them coming up to the hospital.
Speaker 3:And you showed up on scene, oh yes, and then rode with him, right, what was it like for you two to meet each other when they were pulling him out of the ambulance?
Speaker 5:I don't remember Clayton, even I really don't.
Speaker 2:I tell you it was a blur. I mean I don't remember. I know they came in, I talked to them, but I don't remember everything else that went on after that, because we were waiting for the doctor to come out and just tell us hey, he's good mother called my wife.
Speaker 6:my mother called my wife. We were shopping for because it was right before school, wasn't it? We were shopping for school clothes for my boys. Yeah, and uh, oh yeah, I'd always told my boys if I ever tell you to something, don't ask why and just do it. And they were probably high school age and I said what is it? She handed me the phone and said Kenneth's been shot. I don't know why I did, but I was just going to get to the matter. I said well, is he dead? And she said no, they're taking him to medical center hospital. So I told the boys put that down. They just dropped their clothes, got in the car and went up and I don't remember y'all being. I stayed the night up by his room, but I don't you guys.
Speaker 3:Well, and here's kind of an interesting factor for those that are in law enforcement that watch this podcast, you're well aware that some at times when legal matters happen, we've always got family members that give us a call. Let me run this by you, because I don't and you have to dumb down the law enforcement side. You being a prior nurse and having the medical experience I'm sure that you were probably the liaison of explaining kind of the medical procedures and medical process. What was that like? To tell your parents, your parents, um, and this is gonna be a long road to recovery oh, I, I really don't remember.
Speaker 6:Uh, I, I know they had questions about it. I understood what was happening.
Speaker 3:Uh, I don't, I frankly don't recall yeah, were there ever the times where all five of y'all were in the same room during your recovery process just alone, or after that we all basically had a discussion of is this career or job worth?
Speaker 4:it? Oh no, that was never a question. That was never a question. I can't even remember how long it was after the shooting that I was able to talking, know what was going on. I think I was out of it for a week or so, but uh no, I don't think that was ever a question for anybody here, because because we'd already gone through it once if you clint clint got shot before I did, oh, I thought yours was before his.
Speaker 3:No, let's go back to that then. Um, talk about that day. Talk about, um, what all transpired and how, how it led up to that. I'm trying to meet you in the picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh hey, let's not get in a fight on too. Uh, mine was September 25th of 1997. Been on the street a little over two years. Um got called, I'll tell you. Let me go ahead and build up to it, because I worked a part-time job that day and that's the first day I never wore my vest to my part-time job. Always wore my vest and I did security for a bank and the officer I was working with he's a supervisor now Sergeant Saxon. He's like you know, clint banks get robbed.
Speaker 3:Well, and I'm going to tell you this not to cut you off, but this is 97. 97. Tell you this, I'm not not to cut you off, but this is 97 97. The officers that are 21 28 years old that work right now, or, uh, the listener out there to have you have no idea one how lucky this next generation of law enforcement is for their kevlar vest, because the shit we wore back in the 90s or early 2000s, yeah, was not near as comfortable as what was what they had then. You're right, I mean, the turtle shell, literally, was what it felt like. Yeah, it was horrible couldn't bend in it.
Speaker 2:That's why I didn't work. That's right, because it wouldn't. It wasn't flexible and I I worked the bank so I had older ladies online. You'd have to go get coined what was on the ground, so you had to try to bend over and grab it. So I didn't wear it to the bank, but I always put it on before I went on patrol. And, uh, so I'm on patrol.
Speaker 2:That evening I decided to meet my wife at my mother's house to eat dinner. Well, my wife and my mother get on to me it's like, hey, oh, you can get shot at the bank. So I'm like, yeah, I'll never work another part-time job without it. So that was around eight or nine and so I go back out on the street. I back up a guy on a call and then they were asking for another unit to go to a second call and so I volunteered to take it because the guy that was dispatched hadn't had dinner. So I took his spot and it was a.
Speaker 2:At first it came out as molesting, possible child molesting at a hotel, and so I meet the other officer up there and when we get there the lady says, well, it's a. I think they're selling dope in the room Because you could hear through the walls hey, cut this, measure this. And that's what they could hear and it's like, okay. So we, me and Officer Reisinger, go to the door and it's a. The front of it it's a door, but then it's an older hotel, so the other part of the wall is just glass. Right, so there's no wall. So we take up a tactical stance behind, you know, away from the window, and when we knock on the door you can see a guy on the very far end of the window open it up and he looks and I remember he had glasses and you could see how he had long, stringy hair and I said, hey, steve, somebody's looking out the window. This is is a motel just for clarification.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a little old motel, I mean the typical kind where the AC unit's right underneath the double-pane window. That's it, the good old La Quinta Inn's, where the crack's going flowing right. Yes, okay, all right, I'm trying to get this visual.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let go of the curtain and start opening the door. I moved to the other side of the door and uh, steve starts talking to him and it's like, hey, you're a check on possible child molestation or whatever you know. And uh, he's like can we come in? And uh, he's like, uh, yeah, well, I tell you the world is very small, because when we walk in, I knew the guy standing there that answered the door and the reason. I knew him. I knew him from the jail. But what year did you get buried in? I'm on the spot 86. 1986.
Speaker 2:This guy's dad I think it was his adopted father a Methodist preacher over in Carthage. My dad's a Baptist preacher in Tyler Right. Well, my dad and his dad married Wendell and Beth in 1986. Wow, but we didn't know that. And I said, hey, I called him by night and I said what are you doing, man? His eyes were big as saucers. He's like oh, gardner, what's you doing, man? His eyes are big as saucers. He's like oh Gardner, what's going on, man? I said man, we're here. What's going on?
Speaker 2:Try to find out how many people are in the room. There was a female laying on the bed and then they said well, we have a friend in the shower. She's getting a shower. It's like all right. So I'm talking to one guy in front of me. Steve walks over, knocks on the door, says hey, tyler, please, I need you to come out. She said give me a second, let me get a robe on. So, as Steve's walking back, he looks over and on a cadenza and you can see mess, needles, spoons, everything just sitting there and so Steve grabs the phone from the girl and hangs it up as the other girl comes out.
Speaker 2:Next thing. I know I hear I hear pop, pop. It's just like these little white air crackers that you get and you throw on the ground. That's how loud it was, wasn't very loud at all. Well, there was a guy in the bathroom.
Speaker 2:So when she walked out she pulled the door to and steve never opened the door to see if anybody's in there. If he did, he probably would have been shot right between the eyes and so, as steve is walking back across from that guy, I came out and just started firing and uh, struck steve in the back of the leg, came out the side of the leg, uh, I think one round, went into the bed and he just made his way around and, like I said, you had the air conditioner under the window. Well, one hit that. One struck me in the chest and then I got grazed in the forehead. Um, steve made it across to the room right, you know, to the left of me, and then I got off eight rounds. I hit him six out of eight shots and then, um, he run the guy with a 45 we carried that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so this guy runs across the room and starts pistol whipping steve, because he thought I was dead, he thought I went down, yeah, and so he was over there pistol whipping Steve. Well, I see him, I can see the hands going up in there, and I hear Steve screaming and, uh, I jump up. Well, I drop my magazine, reload I thought I did and I go over there and I grab him and I never saw the guy's face, I never. I don't know what he looked like. I knew he had a yellow shirt and that was it. And uh, so I grab him by his hair and I'm trying to put my pistol through his kidneys. I'm hitting him as hard as I can.
Speaker 2:Well, actually, I later on I found out I dropped my pistol behind the door. It was empty, no more rounds. All my magazines are still on my my belt. I'm trying to put my fist through his kidneys, where I'm punching him, and somehow the front door get up, got open, and I, I pick him up and I body slam him. Next thing I hear is pap, pap. Then I just hear 10, 10 more rounds go off. Well, I thought he was shooting at me. So I'm trying to get behind a truck, but what it was is steve drug himself to the door. It was propped up against the door and he fired, you know the final rounds that stopped him. So basically he, he bled out and when they did the autopsy the doctor said that, um, he had enough meth in him to put a horse down, jesus, oh. And that all happened probably within less than 30, 45 seconds.
Speaker 3:And the people that were in the room. Um what? As far as the prosecution aspect, I guess they just got charged with the dope and bad guys dead, or oh they got charged with agas agasalt on a piece off.
Speaker 2:They knew he was in there and didn't tell us, and so they charged him with it and that knew what his intention. Yeah, Because he told him. I forgot about that. But he told him hey, where you let them in, I'm going to hide in the bathroom, he said I, and he said I'm not going back to the pen. He said I'm going to kill them, I'm going to get out of here. They didn't make it out and that's sorry.
Speaker 5:that night I was off. I think that was on a Thursday night and I was off. I was new on the streets and had I been there that night that would have been in my area that I worked. So it's been possible that Clint and I would have been on that call together.
Speaker 6:So fast forward about 20 years later and they call me. I was sorry, need to come over here. We got a guy in here just wanted Go to these crappy motel things and it's the same old boy that he knew that answered the door to that motel room that night 20 years. I know it's 20 years, yeah, and he won't come to the door and I have to go in there. We knock the door down, go in there and I grab him and pull him out. And it's him. It's the same guy and he was on parole the first time for murder and then had gotten back out all those years later and violated that. So I had to go.
Speaker 3:Did he die? Did he know I mean, obviously he knew it was you Did he have any conversation with you about knowing who you were?
Speaker 4:No, he was too high. Yeah, yeah, when Clint got shot, I think Vic's the one that called me. I was working day shift. I was working day shift when that happened, so Vic calls me. And I think the first thing I asked was is Clint okay? And he said yes, and then I said is that? I think I said son of a gun. I may have said something else, but I said is the other one dead? And Vic said yeah, he is.
Speaker 4:I said what hospital? He told me and I went straight to the hospital. So when I got to the hospital I go in and I see Clint and he's bleeding from the chest, like I see blood coming down, and I go. I thought his vest stopped it. But he had a little like a carpet burn from that bullet from his vest because it stopped him. It was right over his heart but he was bleeding down the side of his chest and I thought, I thought, I thought he didn't get hurt, but obviously there was more to it. Then checked on clint, went and checked on steve. It was a.
Speaker 3:That was a mess that night too and that that's what's amazing to me is you guys just continue to stick together. Uh, you know, and I'm sure that y'all have had some family feuds minor, here and there, with having so many kids and you know that kind of stuff. But the bond between y'all, it's obvious. It's been obvious with Ken and his family. That's what's so remarkable to me. How do you guys not question the profession of going through traumatic incidences, just like both of you have Turned over to God.
Speaker 2:I did. Yeah, I learned how. You know, like I said, we were raised in a wonderful Christian home. Dave was a Baptist preacher and you know now I pray every morning, every night, waiting for the safe day, because you know, you never know what's, uh, what your day's done here on earth.
Speaker 3:Well, and and I'm we're going to segue into something else real quick um, you, you were almost shot and killed. 97 probably had more close calls along your career with with different incidences, like we all have. We all had that hunch, that man that could have been bad, yeah. Um, what year were you diagnosed and went through the battle?
Speaker 2:Both your cancer, oh cancer, I'm sorry 2018. Yeah, that little thing 2018.
Speaker 2:I forgot that. Yeah, 2018. Yeah, we let me back up real quick. Yeah, I always have to tell this part about my shooting. Uh, it's crazy because I, like, asked for my mom. He asked my wife's phone number, so I gave it to him. Well, evidently I gave him the wrong phone number, so they call my mom. My mom was so calm really, oh, I'm telling you, if it wasn't for my mom, we probably you know, she was calm for everything. Daddy just had quadruple bypass, you, you know, like two years before, so his emotional system was way off.
Speaker 2:But they get a hold of my mom and tell her hey, clint's been in an incident, he's fine, he's on his way to the hospital. But we can't get a hold of his wife. And so she's like well, I'll call Renee. And so she calls my wife and this is what she says. She says Renee, clint's been in a small accident, but he's okay. Renee's like okay, well, was it a car wreck? Well, no, but he's okay, he's on the way to the hospital. She said well, do I need some clothes to stay over? She said you might. She said, but you don't have to come down if you don't want to. And then, finally, renee says well what happened. She goes well. Clint was shot, but he's okay. You know, now my dad would answer he would have fallen apart, you know. But mom answered the phone and she did that.
Speaker 2:But when Renee gets to the hospital I'm sitting there and it's a couple hours later. It's like one or two in the morning, but the time didn't seem like it was that long. So I'm sitting there talking to Renee. I said hey, renee. I said what time is it? She looks at her watch. Her watch stopped at the time I got shot. I am not kidding, it was a brand new watch, it wasn't even a year old. And she looks at her watch and she's like, oh my God. She said my watch stopped and then she shows me the watch. It was about the time I got shot.
Speaker 3:You still got that watch. Still got the watch. It's in a scrapbook. Yeah, you need to tattoo that on your chest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it just gives me chills every time I think about it. Um, back to my cancer. Uh, I was. I was my youngest son, played in the dixie league world series. We were over in north carolina and stopped at south carolina, went to the beach, got home, started having an earache. I thought I was having an earache, just hurting.
Speaker 2:Went to the doctor. He's like yeah, it looks a little red, I'll give you some medicine. And week or so later it's getting worse, he says. He says well, no, it looks like it's cleared up. I said my head is killing me, so I'm taking Tylenol. It's not doing anything. So he gives me hydrocodone for the pain. That's not doing anything for it. So he says let me send you to your nose and throat doctor. Go there. And she runs tubes up my nose and everything. She's like everything's clear. She said, said. But I got a question do you feel your heartbeat in your head? I said yes, ma'am. She said we need to get a mri of your head and they found a golf ball size tumor in my head and then, just a couple of weeks later, the tumor had grown large enough to affect my vision so I had double vision.
Speaker 2:I had to wear an eye patch. You know, for nearly nine months I called, called him Patches. Yeah, I was called a few things probably. But when they sent me to a doctor here in Tyler to remove the tumor, well, he didn't have the team to do it, so they sent me to UT Southwest In Dallas, in Dallas. Let me just say UT Southwest is top notch Remarkable. Do not wait for a thing. I have a wonderful doctor up there, dr Anderson, and all the nurses. You go in there and he'll ask you hey, how are you feeling? I said, well, my, my right leg's hurt. He's. He made sure you don't have a blood clot. He'd pick up the phone. Okay, go on over there, gonna do a scan. I never waited.
Speaker 2:Um, so they went in to do the brain surgery. Uh, to, to, don't listen to them, I know what they're thinking they didn't find anything. But, uh, they found the tumor. But they didn't find the brain evidently. But, uh, they, they said it had grown too large where they couldn't remove it. So they, I did 10 rounds of radiation to shrink it and then I had to go in and they did six bone marrow biopsies in a year and those are painful. And then I had a stem cell transplant and now I've had chemo. I've been doing chemo since 2018. I do it once a month now. Really, I'm back and forth to Dallas and do my chemo on Fridays and go back up to work Saturday.
Speaker 3:Well, I know at that time you and I communicated whenever you were in Dallas just to kind of. You know that's one of the beautiful things about TMPA is that when situations like that happen, we lean on our members and lean on the community support to support us right To basically support those who protect texas and talk about the the environment of this law enforcement profession. That leaned on, leaned on you and your family and helped you guys out. Whenever you're going through all that, oh yeah, I tell you especially with our, our department.
Speaker 2:I ran out all my sick time, ran out all my vacation time because I was off, like I said. I said for nine months I couldn't see but uh, couldn't drive. So, um, and I was down. I was out of the office for nearly six, eight months and they finally let me come back. I sat in the office for a while but I, like I said, I lost all my time. But the guys I work with and the girls I work with, they, they donated time so I never missed a paycheck. So they would work overtime and instead of them taking the pay, they would donate it to me and so I never missed a paycheck that whole time I was out. So people don't understand the tight group we have as law enforcement officers. You know, anytime anybody or their family is hurting, we try to step up and take care of them.
Speaker 5:The department was really good during that time. There were several folks that organized fundraisers. Oh yeah, Not just through the department, but the community as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 5:So they really showed great support and Tyler, the city of Tyler, has always been real supportive of our police department.
Speaker 3:Well, and I'll echo on that I think not just Tyler, I think the whole East Texas region, you know, and all that defund stuff was going on here in Austin and really across the country, east Texas didn't see that. East Texas saw more of a warmth, an inviting, you know, confirmation that they're not going to put up that kind of shit and that they support the cops, uh, and that that that goes to a little bitty gas station, you know, clerks should walk in uniform and you just feel it right, it's a. It's a different special place to be at. Um, so what is the most special or memorable moment besides getting shot? Um, when you guys were working together? That you guys want to, probably a funny one. I I can already tell you're laughing. Yeah, I'm laughing because I was the runner and I'm not gonna say what's the most memorable moment of you guys working together I was thinking about, you know, a boy, boy that was stealing the TVs out of the nursing home.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you remember that that's the one we stopped. I remember that?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I got you. I remember that, all three of y'all, yeah.
Speaker 2:There were three of us Actually. Me and Daryl were riding together that day and we had a guy that was going to the nursing home stealing all the TVs. Well, I think we got him, stopped me and daryl got him stopped, had him out of the car. Well, what had what had taken place earlier? No, no, no, no. What what had happened was yeah, prior to this, several months before me and window were on a call where a burglar was happening at our appraisal district. Well, window sees the guy running out the back door and I'm up at the front, so window chasing me. Well, they fall off a 10-foot drop.
Speaker 2:Well, wendell messed up his back. Well, I mean he aged. I mean he was not getting the treatment at the time that he needed Worker's comp, yeah, worker's comp, yeah, it aged him. I mean he was getting around like he was probably in his 50s then, but he looked like he was in his 70s, moving around, yeah, so me and Darrell stopped his car and we're out, and he's starting to look at us and me and Darrell, favor, you know, and all of a sudden he's looking at our name tags. He's like Gardner. He said y'all brothers. He said yeah, well, wendell comes walking up.
Speaker 3:He looks over at Wendell he's yeah, that's open up.
Speaker 4:It was fun riding together. Oh, I got mad. I got to ride a couple times in the same car, not as much as they did. Darrell and clint got to ride together quite a bit. Of course, when wendell became a supervisor, he couldn't supervise any of us, so, uh, change the dynamics. Yeah, yeah, we, we had, we had to keep an eye on him, but uh, we never did so it was is there any of y'all's kids that are going to pursue this?
Speaker 2:uh no legacy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was quickly answered.
Speaker 4:Yeah, sorry yeah, yeah, it's just I I don't know if it's they've seen what we've gone through and how, how law enforcement's been treated. I don't know if that's it or or what that uh just, my kids did not show any interest.
Speaker 2:I think it was when uh shooting like found out about that and they're like, no, don't want to go through that.
Speaker 3:That's understandable. That's understandable.
Speaker 6:Well, they've got real jobs. Yes, all of our kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no-transcript.
Speaker 4:Well, I think I don't know say what's at want, but this is what I always tell my kids and I think we do it too you put God first in everything. I don't know they may have something different, but I've told them that from the get-go and I think, as far as us, we do that and if you do that, everything else will fall into place.
Speaker 5:I agree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you got to put God first put your family, family and then think about that job, yeah well, yeah, you gotta put when you get off your shift. You have to leave it behind and become, go back to your family, and I worked midnights for years just so I could see my kids grow up make their sporting events, because if not, I was on second shift so I never made any of that. But you know, like I said, put god first. You know, raise your family in a good christian home or, you know, make sure they're in church, and then your family, and then leave your job at the job well, I'll.
Speaker 3:I'll say this and I don't want to make make this too emotional but, uh, a couple years ago y'all suffered the loss of your mother. Years before that was your father man, as a father now that's raising two kids, just two, not five. Oh, they're six, they're six, it was true six. Yeah. Yeah, we have a sister. I'll just say this I'm most certainly positive. I'm sure that you guys know it, feel it and understand it, that they were extremely proud of what you guys did until the day they died. And the TNPA family is always respected and loved on. Ken, and I can't even begin to thank you for y'all traveling down here and sharing your stories. Well, appreciate it. Yeah, for sure, enjoy it.
Speaker 3:We do have some final questions, some hot topics. Hope you guys didn't study and, depending on how you guys answer this, I'm not sure if you all would be brothers after, because you've got to answer it correctly. Let's just see yeah, what is your favorite, and we'll go in this order, okay, what is your favorite cop movie or line from a cop movie? What's your favorite drink of choice? Whenever you Police vehicle? Who you want to start with? We'll start over here. Yeah, Cop movie, what I'm up? All right. Well, what's your favorite drink of choice when you're just hanging out? Dr Pepper. And favorite cop car? I guess the Tahoe, tahoe's.
Speaker 5:Okay, we'll just go with the old Die Hard movies. Okay, favorite drink is going to be sweet tea, coca-cola. Okay, favorite drink is going to be sweet tea, coca-cola. And my favorite cop car is the Dodge Charger. Dodge Charger.
Speaker 6:Okay, favorite movie Dirty Harry. That's a good one, you knew that.
Speaker 3:I knew that was coming, yeah.
Speaker 6:And iced tea and Chevrolet Caprice. Well, what did you say?
Speaker 3:Dodge Charger, dodge Charger.
Speaker 4:Oh man, that Caprice, that's Tyler's favorite car, that Chevy Caprice.
Speaker 3:What's yours? I like Police Academy. That's a good one. I think you're the first person that's ever said that.
Speaker 2:Well, you know work with a bunch of clowns, yeah, and you see who you work with or even have them in your family, yeah you have them in your family hey.
Speaker 5:Now that he says that you can look around the department and find them once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah. So you do that. Mine is probably sweet tea and I got a new Tahoe. I like the Tahoe. Those Tahoes are nice, especially when you get older. Now, when I was younger, I liked the Capri. The Crown Vigs were horrible, you're exactly right?
Speaker 4:I'm not. You're exactly right, Tyler.
Speaker 2:You know, you used to have competition sometimes in the Charger and my buddy had the Capri. Yeah, I lost. Every time Y'all line them up at like industrial parks or something, I test them out, it's time. Yeah, how long it's been a while. It's been about 20 something years. But yeah, he, uh, he blew me away. We're just going to dinner, um, but the caprice, the cohoes. Now, when you get older you don't want to squat down to get anything. So just, yeah, just slide in and slide out now I.
Speaker 3:I do get the sense because I've seen Tyler when I was out in East Texas. I moved there in 05, 06, and then obviously 2025. Now I moved in 2023. Tyler, to a certain extent, was kind of a small town and then kind of blew up and it's more of a. It's not metro, right, I'm not talking about it's comparable to Dallas, but it has become a very respectable hard city feel. Has that changed y'all's perspective as far as leasing?
Speaker 5:No, I still work the same area. I've been working 26, 27 years. That's cool, and I stay away from all that Duke growth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, and the reason I was going back to that, East Texas is a special place. I'll kind of share just one, one little story. My first day on the job and I won't repeat the game board's name uh, it was a, it was a department of six at jefferson police department showed up at the jail and keep in mind, this is, uh, my first city police job. Right, I was a campus cop, but this is like I'm going out there kicking ass, taking names and I'm, I'm. I couldn't sleep the night before my uniform was all starched. We got a brand new. I paid for a glock. Uh, 22, 40 caliber.
Speaker 3:Game warden walks out. He says, man, that's a mighty fine pistol you got it's a stock glock. I mean, I didn't have night sights on it and, uh, you know how we do, we kind of hip them. You throw that hip out there like you're kind of shaking your butt at him, and so he grabs the gun. He said is it fire good? And I said, yeah, this is outside the sheriff's office in downtown Jefferson, texas, at about 730 at night. Oh no, he unloads a full magazine standing outside in the air and then hands me back. He said, yeah, it shoots pretty good and I'm thinking I'm getting paid $12 an hour. At the time I'm the one that had to buy the ammo for the situation.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, east Texas is pretty cool. I do miss it at times but, like you and I talked before, I'm pretty happy where I'm at. But, yeah, guys, I can't thank you all enough. Man, it's a remarkable story to have five of you all working for the same agency one time and some of you all continue to serve. They're at Tyler Police Department, and Tyler Police Department is a special place. It is. Yeah, yeah, thank you, tyler. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Well, you guys, take care, stay safe. God bless you and, as always, may God bless Texas. Right, thank you. Thank you, we'll see you next time.
