The suspect in the courthouse killing of a Texas law enforcement officer committed suicide last week, authorities said Monday.
William Francis Kenny, 64, killed himself last Tuesday morning — roughly 24 hours after he fatally shot Assistant Deputy Chief Constable Clinton Greenwood, Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris said during a news conference.
Greenwood, a 30-year law enforcement veteran, was found dead outside the Harris County courthouse where he was going to work on the morning of April 3.
Dorris attributed the week-long lag time in naming Kenny as a suspect to considerable investigative legwork.
"When the suicide occurred ... they were able to positively identify him," Dorris said. “We just didn’t know he was our suspect until late last [Sunday] night."
Dorris said it was unclear why Kenny appears to have targeted Greenwood, though he added that “everybody knows” Kenny had filed complaints with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
“But why Greenwood was who he went after, we don’t know,” he said. “The person who can answer that is no longer here.”
In a brief statement to reporters on Monday, Kenny’s brother expressed condolences to Greenwood’s family.
“We’re so very sorry,” he said without giving his first name. “I don’t know what to say — we’re in shock, too.”
Greenwood, 57, was a former prosecutor, cop and lawyer with the Houston police union, NBC affiliate KPRC reported.
A former colleague, Brian Wice, recalled him this way to the station: "In the criminal justice system, where so often we see the worst of people, Clint always showed us the best.”
