KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |KSLA discovers Linden, TX officer involved in shooting has a past

KSLA discovers Linden, TX officer involved in shooting has a past

By Liz Elan - bio | email

LINDEN, TX (KSLA) - A year before 59 year old Elvin Hickman shot Thomas Dickerson in Linden, Texas, he was working at the Bowie County District Attorney's Office as a bailiff. It wasn't a gun but another weapon that caused him to lose his job there before Linden P.D. hired him back and gave him a gun. 

On Tuesday night, Hickman responded to a burglary call at a home at the Corner of Hillcrest and James Clark In Linden.

 Texas Ranger Jay Womack told us when the officer arrived, Dickerson was trying to break into the home. When Hickman tried to stop him, Womack says Dickerson hit Hickman with a shovel and that's when Hickman shot Dickerson.

  Back in 2007, Hickman was fired from the Bowie County District Attorney's Office after an incident in court.

  In a letter to the district attorney, 5th district court judge Ralph Burgess wrote what happened in the courtroom that day.

 He said a "shackled inmate" came into his courtroom accompanied by four guards. The inmate was disrespectful to the court but he "did not pose an immediate threat to me, my staff or anyone else in the courtroom." As the inmate stood at the podium, the "bailiff used a stun gun on the defendant on at least 4 occasions."

   The Bowie Count District Attorney fired Hickman after the incident and wrote he was "not licensed to carry a firearm."

  But then how did he end up with the Linden Police Department a year later? We found a record of his law enforcement service from the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

  Turns out Hickman never lost his license to be a law enforcement officer,  he was just not aloud to enforce the law until a year later when Linden P.D. brought him and his ability to use a weapons back to life.

  We also found out that before hickman was a bowie county bailiff, he served with the Texarkana Police Department for a little less than four years in the 70's. There's a 25 year gap before he was picked up with Bowie County.

Also on ksla.com:
Letter from Bowie County Judge John Miller, Jr. on taser incident involving Hickman
Letter from Bowie County D.A. Bobby Lockhart on firing of Hickman
Form from the TX Comm. of Law Enforcement showing Hickman losing his firearm license