[ad_1]
A Texas police officer was killed and four other officers injured in a 10-hour confrontation with a barricaded gunman, authorities said.
Omar Soto-Chavira, 22, was taken into custody at a Levelland house around 11:30 p.m. Thursday after a standoff began around 1 p.m. when a possibly armed man was reported walking down a residential street Police chief Albert Garcia told reporters. .
Cops, including a Levelland Police negotiator, responded to the residence, but Soto-Chavira entered and opened fire on officers from a door, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.
Shots were then exchanged and a SWAT team commander, Sgt. Josh Bartlett, was injured in the shooting. He later died in a hospital, authorities said.
Levelland Police Sgt. Shawn Wilson was in critical but stable condition after surgery for his injuries. Three other officers were treated for minor injuries and were released from a hospital, Garcia told reporters.
“Obviously it’s a bad day for us… we lost one of our first responders with our SWAT team,” Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe told reporters. “It’s hard for me to describe the loss in many words… My heart, our hearts and, I know, the hearts of the whole country are with his wife and family.”
Hockley County Sheriff Ray Scifres said Soto-Chavira was known to police but did not give details. Bartlett, who led the Lubbock County SWAT team, was a nine-year departmental veterinarian who previously served in the military, Scifres said.
“He gave his life to defend the citizens of Levelland today,” Levelland police said in a statement. “We send our prayers to his family, blood and blue. Thanks for your service, Sgt. Bartlett. It is a debt that we will never be able to repay.
Authorities used robots to enter the house at one point before deploying gas that sent Soto-Chavira outside, Rowe told reporters in a briefing after the suspect’s arrest. He was being treated at a hospital in Lubbock, but the extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.
With post wires
[ad_2]
Source link