Amarillo Police Chief Thomas Hover sat down with various members of the media for a one-on-one discussion on Thursday, May 7, about the growing concerns regarding gun violence in Amarillo and the area.
Hover was confirmed as Chief of Police on Jan. 13 and sworn in on Feb. 6. He noted in a May 2 statement that in 2025, Amarillo had 16 homicides: “In 2026 there have been 10 homicides including the two from early this morning. … This criminal behavior is unacceptable, and the Amarillo Police Department and our regional law enforcement partners are committed to the safety of our community.”
Before he took office, New Year’s Day brought the city’s first homicide of the year, when a 15-year-old was killed in a shooting early Jan. 1. Two months later, Hover spoke at a news conference March 22 following an outbreak of deadly violence in the Amarillo area, detailing how three separate shooting incidents quickly unfolded that morning and led to the deaths of six victims and one gunman, as well as multiple injuries. In April, police said a woman who was not the intended target was shot and killed in her home while she was sleeping.
Then early on Saturday morning, May 2, violence broke out around 2 a.m., when two people were asked to leave a party and then followed the gathering to another location at Westminster Apartments. The two gunmen followed the party, then tried to enter and ended up shooting 12 people, two of which died from the incident.
Regarding the incident on early Saturday, May 2, Hover said, “We still have some people of interest that we’re interviewing and speaking with about the violent attack. While no formal charges have been made, we’re still working through the investigation.”
New focus on gang activity, parents knowing where kids are
Hover said that the Amarillo Police Department is focusing on parents knowing and understanding where their kids are and what they are doing online. Other topics were: What friends do they have? Where are they going at night? and Are there changes in their behavior?
As far as changes in behavior, the police chief offered these key questions for parents to ask:
Hover wants parents to not be afraid to ask questions like, What are you doing? Who are you hanging out with?
“I think sometime that gets lost. Some of the small things can be the most advantageous force,” he said. “The other thing is our weapons and guns.”
Hover said to not leave any weapons in cars, especially unintended in a vehicle, because that leads to an opportunity for someone to access that gun.
“If guns are in your homes, there are plenty of biometric safes that are out there than can provide quick access to the weapon when you need it but also keep it safe,” he said.
Gang members intelligence unit now full-time job
“We already have documented over 400 gangs in Amarillo,” Hover said. “Coming from a town that was a similar size but had more gangs, my concern is that we haven’t been focused on gangs 100% of the time.”
“We have folks involved … doing gang intelligence, but it wasn’t full time,” he added. “The creation of the gang unit is to do just that, to have officers that are involved with that along with a sergeant to spend 100% of their time focused on that.”
Hover emphasized that it wouldn’t be just investigative, but also in recognizing who is associated with the gangs.
“The educational part on the back end would be — as we continue to get into a groove — maybe six months to a year from now on to go into schools, talking to school members and also talking to our parents at public forums, to help people understand what they’re looking at, so they can begin to recognize some of the signs of involvement,” he said.
Hover said they need to do a better job of preventing these type of events from happening, having a more proactive approach and letting people know that their kids are involved in a gang.
Hover said part of the Gang Unit’s responsibility is going to be going around and knocking on doors, talking to parents and letting them know their son or daughter is involved in a gang, and that they are aware of their kids being connected to some of the folks involved and that parents should be concerned.
“It’s a more holistic approach overall, but also an educational piece to let the parents know,” he explained.
How does APD get ahead of the issue?
Hover said the disruption part involved seeing things that are going on, who members are talking to, rumors that are happening, knocking on doors before things happen and having a more proactive approach.
The police chief also wants kids to start to understand when a situation is not going to end well and to get out of there, hopefully letting authorities know the situation is spiraling quickly, as they do.
What about curfews or filing on parents for children’s actions?
As of Sept. 1, 2023, Texas law (HB 1819) prohibits cities and counties from enforcing juvenile curfew ordinances, making most local curfew laws for minors under 19 invalid. There is no statewide curfew, and municipalities cannot enforce general nighttime or daytime curfews, except during officially declared emergencies.
As far as taking legal action against parents, that is more of a court-related action or legislative act that police can’t tackle, Hover said.
Fighting technology that turns handguns or rifles into semi-automatic weapons
During several of the shooting incidents this year, people could hear the rapid fire of bullets, including the May 2 incident. Police said rifle-style weapons have been used — which Hover said can happen using certain devices readily available.
“A lot of these devices that can alter a weapon into a semi-automatic firing machine can be found online,” according to Hover. “You can easily do a search online on TikTok or Instagram, and videos are out there. All they have to do is break open the AR-15 and drop in one plastic piece over the trigger housing, and it becomes a fully automatic weapon, obviously illegal at the federal and state level.”
There are also Glock switches where someone can put a piece of plastic or metal on the back and it affects the trigger to make it a fully automatic piece, Hover said.
The police chief said that in Irving, they had some proactive approaches and worked with the ATF and made some big arrests. But as soon as one dealer is shut down, another appears, and many are from overseas.
In addition to the late night party scenes getting violent, they are still working on Polk Street issues in particular, and whether it’s in a bar or party, it always involves drugs or alcohol, which is also a continuing problem.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: APD chief outlines how police are addressing gun violence in Amarillo
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
