The suspect in the death this Tuesday of a sergeant from the Houston, Texas police force, who was about to retire, is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador with a criminal record, the United States Immigration and Customs Service reported Wednesday (ICE, in English).
Elmer Manzano, 51, was arrested on charges of shooting officers who attended a call for domestic violence at an apartment complex in the Texas city.
As a result of the shooting, Officer Harold Preston, 65, was killed.
ICE specified that Manzano is a "convicted criminal alien who is illegally in the United States" and seeks to take him into federal custody.
This case may serve as a way for President Donald Trump's Administration to defend raids in recent weeks to arrest undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with ICE.
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The suspect's son, a 14-year-old teenager, and a second officer were also injured in the shooting, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters.
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Officer Courtney Waller, who has been with the department for three years, was shot in the arm and taken to a local hospital, according to Acevedo.
The teenager, who was not identified, was also wounded by a gunshot in the arm and was hospitalized.
Manzano surrendered after a tactical unit responded to the scene of the fatal shooting, Acevedo said, describing Preston as an officer who led "from the front" who "leads with men and women in the streets, rather than choosing sit in an office to drink coffee and read the newspaper ”.
“That is the man he was, he is a man who lived with elderly parents to take care of them.
As good as he was as a policeman, he was a better human being, that's the type of person he was and we will miss him, ”he added.
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Agents had responded to a call from Manzano's wife, who was separated, because she had been unable to enter the apartment south of downtown Houston to collect her belongings Tuesday morning.
It was not the first time authorities had come to the home for allegations of domestic abuse, Acevedo said.
As officers spoke to the woman in the apartment building's parking lot, her son opened the front door to find his father armed with a gun.
Manzano allegedly fired immediately and several bullets hit Preston's skull as well as his spine, Acevedo said.
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The police department has not yet made a statement about what Manzano will face, and it is not clear whether he has an attorney to defend him.
With information from The Washington Post and NBC News