Police say bragging about Euless burglary leads to gunbattle

EULESS -- The burglary on July 2 in Euless went off without a hitch and netted $59,000 in cash.
But, police said Monday, it was bragging about that burglary that led to a gunbattle Friday at a Fort Worth apartment, nearly got an 18-year-old Euless man shot and helped put him in jail.

Police said the gunbattle resulted from a robbery attempt by a masked man who had heard of the teen’s bragging about his score in the Euless burglary.

When the shooting stopped, the unidentified masked man had been hit, the teenager's brother had been wounded in the arm, and the Euless teen had narrowly escaped injuries, police said Monday. At least 10 shots were fired in the exchange between the robber and the Euless teen's brother, police said.

But the teen, whom police identified as Christopher Norman, was arrested when police responded to the shooting and discovered that Norman had a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of commiting the Euless burglary.

“He went through a lot of that money because we were able to find just $24,000,” Euless police Lt. John Williams said Monday.

The burglary tale began on July 2 when two men kicked open a door to a house in south Euless and stole jewelry and a safe, police said.

“They didn't know how much money was in the safe,” Williams said. “But once they opened it, they hit the mother lode.”

For the next several days, the burglars went off on an extravagant spending spree, buying a Nissan on eBay and a Cadillac Eldorado, staying at expensive hotels, purchasing clothes and jewelry, a block of marijuana and gold grills for their teeth, police said.

The spending and bragging caught up with Norman on Friday, police said. He was holding a baby when he opened the front door of the apartment and a gunman opened fire, police said Monday. Norman jumped out of the way of the gunfire.

Police identified the second suspect in the July 2 burglary as Keith Black, 21, of Irving. Black was in the Euless City Jail with bail set at $20,000.

Norman was in the same jail with bail set at $89,000. He was being held on suspicion of four home burglaries in Euless.