FORT WORTH, Texas — A man accused in the shooting death of a 29-year-old man on Saturday night in Fort Worth's West 7th area has turned himself into authorities, police said.
NOTE: The video above was filmed before the suspect reportedly turned himself in.
The suspect, Karlove Palmer, who is also 29, had a murder warrant issued for his arrest earlier Monday, Fort Worth Police Department Sgt. Jason Spencer said during a press conference.
Police later Monday confirmed that Palmer turned himself in at the Tarrant County Jail and was in custody.
Spencer said the altercation was not a random act of violence, but that it arose out of an altercation between the victim and the suspect out of a private dispute on a sidewalk, and that the suspect chose to escalate the dispute to deadly violence.
Officers were called to investigate the reported shooting at about 10:15 pm. Saturday in the 2900 block of Crockett Street, police said, where they found the victim shot, 29-year-old Bryson Rodgers. The victim was taken to a local hospital, but later died from his injuries.
Police say the suspect in the shooting fled the scene before officers arrived.
While Spencer would not say what evidence led to identifying the suspect, he said the department appreciated the assistance of some members of the public.
Spencer added that the investigation is still ongoing.
"I was disgusted," Emil Bragdon, who owns several bars in the area, told WFAA.
Bragdon owns Whiskey Garden, Reservoir, Junk Punch and Koe Wetzel's Riot Room.
West 7th is also the area TCU student Wes Smith was shot and killed last September.
"The lack of empathy for human life, it makes me sick," Bragdon said of the shootings.
Immediately following Smith’s death, city leaders vowed to make the entertainment district safer. Police immediately put more officers in the area, zoning was changed and voluntary wanding at bars began.
Then, this January, city council voted to pay more than $300,000 to put unarmed ‘ambassadors’ in the area as early as this spring.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck told WFAA then that the ambassadors will help monitor for issues.
"These truly are individuals that are an extension of our Fort Worth Police Department," she said.
"No matter how many police force you have, no matter how many things you do to enforce safety in the area, things do happen," Bragdon told WFAA on Sunday.
Bragdon said he doesn't believe West 7th is a dangerous place at all. He told WFAA he’s appreciative of the city’s changes, but that it's simply not possible to prevent every act of violence anywhere.
"It has gotten better," he said. "It is safe. The problem is what happened last night, it happens on a whim, you can’t stop people from being evil like that."
Bragdon also pointed to the fact Saturday night's shooting happened near but not on the main strip of bars and said many of the city's safety initiatives are centered around bars.