KIRBYVILLE, Texas — A Kirbyville man armed with a sword was arrested Thursday after trying to force his way into the Kirbyville Police Department.
Just a few hours later, Bruce Thomas, 39, was released from the Jasper County Jail and showed up at the Kirbyville Police Department banging on the door demanding to be let in, according to Kirbyville Police Chief Paul Brister,
Thomas was wearing a bullet proof vest while wielding a sword and also carrying a scythe, pair of scissor shears and a pellet gun. Had Thomas realized that the door was unlocked he could have simply walked in.
Brister was alone at the station and had to call for backup while Thomas screamed, he said.
"Violating his civil rights and that he's a black man, and we shouldn't have ordered him to the ground. And that you know we have to have our body cams on. Which our body cams were on the whole time he was here," Arce said.
Kirbyville Police officer Ashley Arce arrived to the station and handed Brister her taser-gun as she arrested Thomas, she said.
"You know I did have my taser out, I did give that to Chief Brister so that he could you know make sure that we were safe while I handcuffed him. He did talk with the mental health deputy and he did let him know that he was very angry with us. So, that's why they believe he wasn't having a mental health crisis at the time. That he was just mad at the police," she said.
Thomas's had been originally arrested and charged with aggravated assault with deadly weapon on August 23, 2023, when Thomas shot through a truck with an AR-15 many times while there were three people in the truck. No one was hit, Brister said.
Then he turned his rifle onto a Kirbyville police officer who had responded to the emergency call of shots fired, said Brister.
As a condition of his bond on the aggravated assault arrest, Judge Mike Smith ordered a mental health evaluation.
Thomas now sits in the Jasper County jail on charges of retaliation.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.