Rodney Ward

Rodney Curtis Ward was a 48-year-old man from Amarillo, Texas. On the evening of January 19, 2021, his life was cut short after what first appeared to be a traffic accident. At approximately 6:52 p.m., officers with the Amarillo Police Department were dispatched to the intersection of SW 1st Avenue and S. Bonham Street, where they found Ward in his vehicle.

Ward was the only person in the car, and he was suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was immediately transported to a local hospital with what police described as a life-threatening injury. Despite medical efforts, Rodney Ward died from his injuries two days later, on January 21, 2021.

The Amarillo Police Department Homicide Unit launched an investigation into the shooting. On the same evening Ward was shot, detectives arrested a 15-year-old male in connection with the case. The investigation pressed on, and on January 22, APD SWAT officers assisted the homicide unit in executing search warrants at two homes located in the 100 block of S. Austin Street.

Evidence collected during the searches led police to a second suspect. Authorities arrested 18-year-old Edward Matthew Gamez, who was then booked into the Potter County jail for murder. More than two years later, the case went to trial. On June 12, 2023, a Potter County jury sentenced Edward Matthew Gamez to seven years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the shooting death of Rodney Ward. The case is considered closed as of that sentencing in June 2023.