A Dallas police officer has been placed on administrative leave and disgraced by the police department after preventing an NFL player from visiting his dying mother-in-law.

Officer Robert Powell faces being fired from his 3-year veteran position in the police department after stalling football player Ryan Moats from seeing his dying mother=in-law, who ended up dying before he got to see her.

The incident occurred on March 18th, when Moats and his family pulled into a hospital parking lot and came running out of the car. Officer Powell drew his gun, but Moats' wife ran into the hospital anyway.

Ryan came out of the car explaining that his wife's mother is dying and could die at any moment. Officer Robert Powell then drew his gun on the Houston Texans running back.

Officer Powell refused to excuse Moats, even temporarily, and he never got to see his mother-in-law before she died. Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said Friday:

"When we at the command staff reviewed the tape, we were embarrassed, disappointed."

"It's hard to find the right word and still be professional in my role as the police chief. But the behavior was not appropriate."

"His behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, the discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit."