Patrick Warren Sr.

Case background and investigation

Patrick Warren Sr., 52, died on January 10, 2021, after being shot by Killeen Police Officer Reynaldo Contreras outside the Warren family home on Carrollton Avenue in Killeen, Texas. NBC News reported that Warren had started a landscaping business after losing a job at a local plant during the pandemic. He was unarmed.

According to the family's account reported by NBC News, relatives had called for help the previous day, a mental health officer responded, and Warren went voluntarily to a hospital for evaluation before returning home. When they called again on January 10, they said they wanted a mental health professional rather than a patrol officer. The family's attorney, Lee Merritt, said a mental health call should not have ended in a death.

A federal magistrate judge's March 2026 report, which relied on the officer's body camera recording, summarised the encounter as follows. Dispatch told Contreras that the call might involve a mental health issue and that the caller said there were no firearms in the house. He stepped inside briefly, went back outside and waited for backup. Warren then opened the door and walked toward him, and the officer backed away while giving commands. Contreras fired his Taser more than once; Warren got up and kept approaching. The report states that Contreras warned he would shoot and fired three shots as Warren lunged at him, about 32 seconds after Warren opened the door. Warren died at a hospital a short time later.

Killeen police released the body camera video in January 2021. Police Chief Charles Kimble disputed parts of the family attorney's description of the encounter while acknowledging, according to KWTX, a breakdown in how police and mental health services intersect. The Texas Rangers investigated the shooting and presented the case to a Bell County grand jury, which declined to indict Contreras in May 2021. KWTX reported that he had returned to work on administrative duty in April 2021.

Warren's widow, Bobbie Warren, filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Texas on December 21, 2022, alleging excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Court records show the City of Killeen was dismissed as a defendant on August 1, 2023. On March 11, 2026, Magistrate Judge Dan MacLemore recommended granting the officer's motion for summary judgment, which asserted qualified immunity, and on March 31, 2026, District Judge Alan Albright adopted the recommendation and entered judgment for Contreras. The family filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit on April 8, 2026; the docket shows the appeal still open as of late September 2026.

No one has been charged or convicted in connection with Warren's death. His son, Patrick Warren Jr., told KWTX on the first anniversary that he wanted better training for officers who respond to mental health calls.