“If you’re one of the bad guys and we haven’t got you — we’re coming for you,” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Rows of guns, bags of drugs, and behind it all — a warning.
“If you’re one of the bad guys and we haven’t got you — we’re coming for you,” said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.
That message was backed Tuesday by a unified front of federal, state and local law enforcement revealing the results of a sweeping 60-day operation.
Dubbed “Operation Showdown,” the multi-agency sting targeted violent offenders in Fort Worth and across Tarrant County. The operation wrapped in May but was revealed just days after one of Fort Worth’s deadliest weekends of 2025, when five people were killed in four separate shootings over Father’s Day weekend.
“Yes, we had a deadly weekend. You’re right, absolutely. It’s very tragic. Many innocent people lost their lives,” Fort Worth Interim Police Chief Robert Alldredge said. “We have some great officers out in the field that are working tirelessly to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Fort Worth Police Department, the joint operation resulted in significant arrests and seizures.
“The operations produced numerous criminal complaints, which included over 70 defendants being arrested or charged,” said Bennie Mims, Special Agent with the ATF. “287 firearms were seized and taken off the streets, and deadly amounts of narcotics were removed.”
Among those drugs: heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine — and enough fentanyl to deliver 240,000 lethal doses. Officials also confiscated 147 machine gun conversion devices, small attachments that turn handguns into automatic weapons.
The scope of the operation is being praised by community leaders — who also stress that real progress will take time.
“I’m pleased that people are working on our behalf to make us a safer city,” said Cory Session, a Fort Worth community advocate.
But Session also emphasized that the work is far from over.
“It’s gonna be a long-term project to make sure that we are able to keep crime down,” Session said. “When I see the statistics one year from now and to see if these efforts have made a benefit.”
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office say the mission continues.
“This doesn’t mean crime is over in Fort Worth, but it does mean that we are here,” said U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson.
Operation Showdown is one of several initiatives launched in North Texas to address rising violent crime,