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Charges against suspect involved in Cedar Park shooting dropped last year
The man accused of shooting three Cedar Park police officers on Sunday had been arrested on family violence charges last year but those charges were dropped in March.
CEDAR PARK, Texas - The upstairs windows to a Cedar Park home in the Heritage Park subdivision remained shattered Tuesday. It’s the first up-close view to Sunday's gunfight and standoff with Cedar Park police.
A shell count was provided during this briefing Monday afternoon.
"There appears to been more than 50 rounds fired, let me repeat that. 50 rounds fired in this incident,” said Interim Police Chief Mike Harmon.
RELATED: Community praises police after peaceful ending to standoff in Cedar Park
Joseph Desean Taylor
The confrontation, which left a patrol car riddled with bullet holes and sent three patrol officers to the hospital, was not the first encounter that accused gunman Joseph Desean Taylor has had with police.
A criminal complaint for family assault was filed against Taylor last September when he allegedly choked his brother after an argument regarding money. His mother told police Taylor had earlier found her gun, purchased ammunition, and told her that he needed it now to protect himself from those trying to get him. Police also wrote down that Taylor has been verbally aggressive and abusive towards all members of the household, making threats to physically harm them.
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Suspect surrenders after 3 officers hurt in Cedar Park shootout
Police said three officers were hurt in the exchange of gunfire.
The case started moving through the court system and was assigned to Judge Donna King. However, the district attorney's office dropped the charges in March. According to a checkbox on the motion to dismiss, the decision was made because of insufficient evidence.
Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick explained on Tuesday that his mental health prosecutor not only didn't have any physical evidence, they no longer had a victim.
"The request from the family had always been they just wanted mental health treatment for their family member, and they did not want the case to be pursued, and they did not want to cooperate with the prosecution,” said Dick.
Court records indicate that Taylor is diagnosed with manic depressive disorder and has exhibited violent behavior for an extended period. The family, according to the DA, had indicated that with charges dropped, Taylor would stay with his father in Houston and get mental health treatment.
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Cedar Park police praises special response team for peaceful resolution
The man suspected of shooting three police officers has surrendered to police after a long standoff.
"Can we prosecute cases where someone doesn't want to cooperate with the investigation, absolutely we can, it is more difficult to do that when someone doesn't want to cooperate, but it also does matter whether or not you have independent physical evidence, and you have willing participants, and willing witnesses, maybe who are not even the complainants, to participate in that process,” said Dick.
The District Attorney says he is not sure if the previous case factored into what happened Sunday. It has changed the way future dismissals will be filed. The DA is now requiring his prosecutors to provide more details as to why charges are dropped.
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