It was a police officer's nightmare. It was a father's worst fear.
On Saturday night, Jesus Ramon lived through both.Fellow officers who witnessed that agony recounted it this week.
A 13-year veteran of the Hurst Police Department, Ramon was called to his neighborhood Saturday night and joined the effort to stop a sniper barricaded in his home. From a temporary command center, he provided police a diagram of his house and told them who was supposed to be inside.
As the shooting continued, Jesus Ramon realized that his only child was the sniper who killed Haltom City officer Gary Hires and wounded three other residents of his neighborhood. When police returned fire, Juan Ramon, 14, was hit and killed.
"He was an officer when he arrived, and he was a father in the end," said Haltom City officer Ronny Rutledge.
Jesus Ramon and his wife, Twila, remained in seclusion and granted no interviews.
But Hurst and Haltom City police officers shared in their grief as they mourned a police officer and the son of a police officer.
Flags were at half-staff at Haltom City and Hurst police departments. Hurst police are scheduled to attend Hires' funeral Wednesday; Haltom City officers hope to go to Juan's service on Thursday.
"We lost a good officer," said Haltom City Commander R.W. McQueary. "And a chubby little boy who was the son of a police officer also was killed. That's the way many of us are looking at it.
"You had some officers at the scene that night who thought the boy was nothing more than a cop killer. Then when they found out that the boy was the son of a police officer, they looked at it differently," McQueary said.
"Some haven't changed their opinions, and you will never be able to change their minds."
Some officers acknowledged their ambiguity.
"Right now, I don't feel anything for the kid. The only one I feel for is his dad," said one Haltom City officer who spoke on the condition that his name not be used. "In time, my feelings might change. I don't know."
On Monday, Rutledge felt the weight of both families' grief. He had worked with Hires for years, and he had taught with Jesus Ramon for about two years at the regional police academy at Tarrant County Junior College's Northwest Campus.
Like other officers, Rutledge wore black tape across his badge yesterday in honor of Hires. He also quietly mourned the death of Juan, a Haltom Middle School student.
Rutledge was a tactical officer at the scene Saturday when Jesus Ramon arrived in the Solona Circle neighborhood.
"I was off duty when I was paged to the 6300 block of Solona. I remembered Jesus lived in that neighborhood," Rutledge said. "I arrived just after the officers started shooting at the house, and that's when I realized it was Jesus' house.
"I saw him a few minutes later at the command center, and he was giving us information about the house. I had to bring him up to where the tactical unit was positioned closer to the house."
Minutes later, Rutledge said Jesus Ramon was given a description of the sniper.
"He said it matched his son to a T," Rutledge said.
Two blocks away, Twila Ramon sat in a Hurst patrol car for most of the evening, as friends and Hurst police tried to console her.
Monday, off-duty Hurst officers helped with the cleanup at the Ramon home.
Officers arrived early, some carrying their own tools, to help board up windows and move furniture so the carpet could be cleaned or removed. They worked side by side amid a handful of onlookers and reporters.
"Police departments are pretty close-knit organizations," said Hurst Assistant Police Chief Roy Bell, who was working at the home. "It needed to be done, so we just came over and did it."