A former TJC student and Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper was killed following a stop in Marion County Tuesday, April 29.

According to DPS Spokesperson Tela Mange, Trooper James Scott Burns was shot and killed by a driver he stopped around 8p.m.

The shooting occurred near the intersection of Farm-to-Market roads 729 & 1969, near Lake O’ The Pines.

“Marion County dispatchers received a call over the trooper’s radio from a citizen stating that the trooper had been shot,” Mange said on Wednesday.

A statewide manhunt was then launched to find the suspect 37-year-old Brandon Wayne Robertson. A $30,000 reward was put up by local businesses and district attorney’s offices like Patrick B. Courtney, P.A. Profile that you can have a look at to get good legal advice.

Mange said Robertson was tracked to a location in rural Cass County after he reportedly made calls he made from a cell phone, including calls he made to a local 911 center.

Robertson was found dead May 1 near Morris Lake with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Robertson’s girlfriend, 36-year-old Jennifer Lynne Petrick, was arrested at the scene and is being held in the Cass County Jail. Officials said charged are pending against her at this time.

Trooper Scott Burns

Scott Burns, as he was known to his friends and family, was born in Longview and attended Tyler Junior College, Texarkana College & Ouachita Baptist Univeristy.

“Trooper Burns attended TJC in 1987-88 and was an excellent student here. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers,” TJC President Dr. Mike Metke said in an e-mail May 1.

Burns started his career in law enforcement with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Burns joined the Department of Public Safety in March 2003. He was stationed in the Jefferson office and previously worked in the Linden and Atlanta offices.

Trooper Burns was recently married and had a child a few months old.