Arlington SWAT Officer Shot; Suspect Killed

Officer released from a Fort Worth hospital, will continue recovery at home

Arlington SWAT officer Bryan Graham was released from the hospital Wednesdy afternoon, he'll recover at home after he was shot in the head Tuesday night serving an aggravated robbery warrant on the city's east side.

The Fort Worth Police Department arrived in Arlington at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday to arrest 23-year-old Alexzander Coan, a man wanted in connection with as many as 10 aggravated robberies including five in Fort Worth and five in the surrounding cities. Coan was also suspected of robbing a Valero truck stop in North Fort Worth in April.

Fort Worth police spokesman Sgt. Pedro Criado said Fort Worth police received information that directed them to an apartment complex on the 600-block of East Arkansas Lane in pursuit of Coan.

Officers entered the home, where a man inside directed them to a rear bedroom where Coan was with two women, according to Criado.  Investigators in Arlington are trying to determine if the women were hostages or whether they were involved somehow.

"He refused to cooperate with our fugitive officers from Fort Worth," Criado said. "At that point -- based on the intel and him being an armed felon and committed at least five aggravated burglaries in our city and possibly five more in surrounding cities -- at that point, our officers basically held a perimeter position."

The officers left the apartment, established a perimeter and called in Arlington SWAT to assist.

Shortly after SWAT arrived, shots rang out.  Graham, an 11-year veteran of the Arlington Police Department, was struck in the head above the right eye as SWAT officers entered the apartment.

Arlington police spokesman Chris Cook said Graham's helmet likely saved his life.

Cook said Tuesday night that Graham was awake, gave a thumbs up before being taken from the scene and was in good spirits talking to people in his hospital room.

"We're very happy, very elated that our officer is in stable condition," he said. "And I know a lot of people have been praying for him, and we're very happy our officer is in stable condition at this point."

Graham, 35, pictured left, is married and has a 4-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter.

Coan was shot and killed in the exchange while a woman inside the apartment was injured by flying glass, Arlington police said. The department earlier said the woman had been shot. Her condition was not immediately available, but she is expected to be OK.

Coan was convicted in 2008 of robbery in Haltom City. He was also convicted in 2007 of possession of a prohibited weapon, burglary of a vehicle and evading arrest. He also spent time at a juvenile facility.

Arlington police said an internal investigation will be conducted into the officer-involved shooting and a homicide investigation into the fatal shooting of Coan to see who started shooting first.  The investigations will be conducted independently.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon, Randy McIlwain, Kendra Lyn and Frank Heinz contributed to this report.

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