An off-duty Texas game warden was shot Sunday evening while bow hunting on Cooper Wildlife Management Area in Delta County.
Game Warden Chris Fried, 31, of Cooper, was listed in stable condition in intensive care at Dallas’s Parkland Hospital Monday. He was transferred to the hospital from Hopkins County Memorial Hospital in Sulfur Springs late Sunday. The warden suffered a gunshot wound to the upper right arm, with the bullet lodging in his chest.
Fried was wounded between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday. He was able to use his cell phone to call for help. A TPWD wildlife biologist reached him first, did what he could to help him, and then went for additional help.
The 14,160-acre WMA is open for archery-only whitetail deer hunting by licensed hunters with a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Annual Public Hunting Permit.
The incident is being investigated by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Internal Affairs and game wardens assigned to the Department’s Criminal Investigation Division as well as the Delta County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers. A game warden forensics team was on the scene Monday to gather data which can be used to reconstruct what occurred.
Fried is based in Delta County and has been a game warden since June 2009.
