Fort Worth officer dies in scuba training

Public, colleagues heartbroken at death of veteran lawman

FORT WORTH — An outpouring of public sympathy hit social media Saturday as word spread about the death of a veteran Fort Worth police officer in a drowning Friday while scuba diving in Ardmore, Okla.

Harlan Tray Whitworth, 49, of Springtown drowned at Lake Murray State Park Friday afternoon. CBS11 in Fort Worth reports that Whitworth was participating in training with firefighters when he went under.

“We are heartbroken and saddened from the loss of a fellow officer and dear friend to many,” the Fort Worth Police Officers Association declared in a Facebook post.

Whitworth “will forever be remembered in our heart as a great man and outstanding police officer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family as they cope with a tremendous loss. We will miss you Tray!” his fellow officers declared.

Diving for an anchor

He was one of four people scuba diving at the Lake Murray Steel Tower as he attempted to retrieve an anchor he found on a previous dive, according to a report from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The report says Whitworth became separated from his diving gear and that the gear surfaced, but he did not.

Officials used sonar and a diver to find Whitworth at 3:25 p.m. The medical examiner pronounced Whitworth dead at the hospital.

KTEN television in Oklahoma reported that the diver who recovered Whitworth was transported to Fort Worth for continued evaluation after being treated for decompression sickness.

He had served the Fort Worth Police Department since August 1998, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was one of three officers praised in 2010 for stopping a suspected drunken driver before his truck ran into the crowd gathered downtown for the Parade of Lights. The officers “placed themselves into harm’s way to save the lives of numerous parade spectators,” according to a police news release at the time. Earned commendation

Whitworth was commended for jumping into the driver’s window and grabbing the driver, yelling at him to stop. The truck came to a halt within five feet of the crowd.

Hundreds of people viewed, shared and commented on the FWPOA Facebook post about the fatal incident.

“RIP officer. Thank you for your service. Prayers for your family and friends. You are gone much too soon,” wrote Rose Stone Moody from Lake Worth.

“Prayers sent to both families (his family & his officers family!),” said Thomas J. Sanchez of Fort Worth.

Nelda Macias, who identified herself as a corrections officer in Johnson County, wrote, “Rest easy, we’ll take watch from here.”

Others took to Twitter to express their grief and condolences, including this post from the police department at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fort Worth Police Department, officer Harlan Tray Whitworth and his family.”