Nicholas Coffman was shot in the belly on a street in Arlington.
“Imagine sitting in your living room and bullets flying through your house just inches from where you were sitting. Being told your son’s been shot and you need to get to the hospital right away. Not being able to see or be with him and after what seemed like an eternity, being told he did not make it. Heart wrenching pain that our family would not wish on anyone. Family would not be allowed to see him until his wake five days later because his body was considered evidence.” That quote is precisely what the family of Nicholas Coffman experienced on what was supposed to be a placid summer night in their little corner of the Lone Star State.
On a Saturday night in August of 2019, Nicholas Coffman, aged 21, was brutally gunned down by unknown subjects in a car at Deaver Park in Arlington, Texas. The purpose of the meeting was to sell a gun Coffman wanted to unload via an internet buyer found on social media.
Coffman was talking to people in the car holding four to five people when another car carrying four to five people pulled up. Coffman began talking to someone in this new car and suddenly someone in it started shooting at Coffman. One witness backs this up saying Coffman returned fire.
No one else was hit besides Coffman, who took a slug in the belly. He died soon after being transported to a walk-in clinic, then the closest hospital.
In the middle of the bedlam that night in Arlington, the suspects inside the car who shot Coffman drove to Coffman’s residence in southwestern Arlington and opened fire. It’s unclear with what publicly available information we have just how this house was connected to Coffman. Investigators found several shell casings of the same caliber as that which killed the 21-year-old earlier that same night.
A residential security camera did catch a shot of the suspect’s car as it sped away from Coffman’s home. The vehicle is described as a small, four-door, dark-colored sedan and could possibly be a Dodge Avenger.
Following the usual investigative pathways in this case led the police basically nowhere. Now, two years later, they want to remind the public of this brutal and senseless crime and hope some profitable leads shake out.
Chief of Police Al Jones said, “While our team has identified people who were in contact with Mr. Coffman the night of his death, we still need the public’s help to find his killer.”
Anyone with pertinent information is asked to please call Detective Gildon at 817-459-5691. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-TIPS (8477).