A police chase in Texas turns into a fatal shootout with a known criminal Two deputies shoot Joe Thornton, 29, on June 16 2006 after he led them on a chase that ended in a cornfield about 12 miles east of Georgetown. Detective John Foster, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, has said that the deputies had “no alternative but to use deadly force,” saying Thornton, who was riding on a motorcycle, pulled a handgun.