Hamilton man dies from lacerations, chest puncture wound in Copperas Cove

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

A 36-year-old Hamilton man is dead and another man is in the Coryell County jail on a $1,000,000 bond after an early Saturday morning altercation inside a vehicle. 
Copperas Cove police issued a press release on Sunday afternoon, which stated that officers were dispatched at 1:14 a.m. to the 100 block of South 1st Street, in Copperas Cove in reference to a male who sustained “a severe laceration.” 
According to the arrest affidavit, officers arrived at a vehicle parked at Keith Ace Hardware, where the victim, Christian Carl Carrigan, was in the back seat of a truck. He was initially discovered to have a laceration which extended from his thigh, behind his knee all the way to his shin. Upon officers rendering aid to Carrigan, he was found to have a puncture wound in his chest and an approximately six-inch laceration. 
A witness told officers that Carrigan and Timothy Robert Rea had been in an argument while they were traveling in the truck. Carrigan said he had been stabbed, and when the witness pulled over, he observed blood on the floorboard of the backseat. He continued along, with Rea exiting the vehicle. 
The witness told police that he observed Rea having a silver knife and that he had left on foot, telling the witness that he was “walking home” and was on F.M. 116 heading toward Gatesville. 
According to the arrest affidavit, officers assisted EMS with providing CPR for approximately 25 minutes and were able to regain a strong pulse. Carrigan was transported to Darnall Army Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries at approximately 2:48 a.m.  
Officers located Rea in the 1900 block of North 1st Street/F.M. 116 near the intersection of Lutheran Church Road. He had multiple lacerations to his hands and the knife was found in his pocket. He was Mirandized and invoked his rights. 
According to the press release, he refused to comply with the officers and had to be subdued with a Taser. Rea was taken into custody and charged with murder.