‘Body Cam: Armed Response’ on Investigation Discovery details how Felix Tyler took three hostages, among them a child, captive inside a Covington, Tennessee, company in early March 2022 while armed with a gun. In the episode, numerous SWAT team members and police officers are interviewed about how they handled the hostage situation. What about Felix? And how did he die? Let’s investigate.
Who Was Felix Tyler?
Around 5:22 PM on March 10, 2022, a 911 call was made stating that a shooter had kidnapped three hostages, among them a little child, at Dean’s Tax Service. The establishment is located in Covington, Tennessee’s Tipton County, near Bert Johnson Avenue and Highway 51. The Tipton County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the emergency responders when they arrived at the crime scene. One of the women who had called 911 was close to the locked door and gave the police information through the glass.
The police officers called in a SWAT team from Tipton County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) and a hostage negotiation team after further evaluating the gravity of the situation. While a SWAT sniper set up shop on the roof of a car about 50 yards from the business, the negotiators attempted to build a line of communication with the gunman. The woman was able to make touch with the officers by the front entrance via her phone, and she informed them that she had a chance to crawl and unlock the door.
The woman told the cops that the gunman and the other woman were having an argument in a cubicle at the back of the store after they first advised against it due to the gunman’s unpredictable behaviour. She unlocked the door and sped away with help from the Covington Police Department after getting the all-clear from the law enforcement officers. After she made her getaway, she told the police that the shooter was Pamela Dean, the proprietor of the company, and his lover, Felix Tyler, 42.
Captain John Weatherly of the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office reported that Felix and Pamela had been dating, with the latter purportedly wanting to end things. “He had been giving her a whole lot of problems,” Pamela’s father, Larry Dean, recalled. “And I always told her, ‘Look, if y’all can’t get along, you need to separate.'” Felix, on the other hand, was unhappy about the split and confronted her with a weapon. He allegedly had a pattern of domestic violence, was detained twice in Shelby County, but was never found guilty, according to reports.
How Did Felix Tyler Die?
Felix was contacted by the police, and the hostage negotiation team kept in touch with him all night and into the early morning hours until he shut off all contact. The SWAT squad used a chemical substance to enter the building after several hours of fruitless attempts to get in touch with him. However, Felix and Pamela were unable to be freed by the authorities. In an effort to free the hostage, SWAT personnel engaged Felix in a gunfight while acting on orders from law authorities.
Deputy Gene Moulder, a member of the SWAT squad, was shot during the rescue effort and sustained bullet wounds to the right arm and body. The injured officer was removed by his coworkers, who also provided first assistance. Up until the shooter left the store’s barred entrance at first light on March 11, the negotiators tried in vain to get in touch with Felix. Deputy Zachary Antle, a SWAT sniper, was able to take down Felix as the cops saw Pamela stumbling towards the front door.
Pamela emerged from the doorway, and the cops hurriedly delivered her to the waiting firefighters and emergency medical technicians. The shooter was then slain by the SWAT squad after they had re-entered the building and encountered him there. The Covington Police Department’s temporary chief, Jack Howell, claimed, “During the time of the negotiations, he said numerous times that he was going to kill her.” The hostage situation, according to Marquiepta Odom, executive director of the YWCA of Greater Memphis, showed warning signals of abuse.
“Whenever someone threatens, ‘I will kill you, hurt you,’ it’s almost as if we have to decide right away that I have to leave this circumstance,’ continued Marquiepta Odom. It all comes back to power, manipulation, and the idea that “If I can’t have you, no one else can. The SWAT squad, other law enforcement authorities, and the injured Deputy Moulder were praised by the sheriff for their valiant efforts throughout the 14-hour rescue mission. She also hoped that all of the hostages would recuperate quickly.
Sheriff Beasley continued, “We did everything we could to save her (Pamela) before. Tyler, however, had other ideas that complicated our attempts. That gunshot would have likely hit the hostage if Deputy Moulder hadn’t been shot and our team hadn’t made the choices they did during the rescue operation. Last but not least, Felix Tyler’s family is in our prayers. No of the choices Tyler took throughout the entire process, witnessing the events play out and dealing with the fallout were painful for his family as well.
