After more than 10 hours of fighting, Texas authorities captured the man suspected of killing a police officer and injuring four others in Levelland, a small town in the west of the state.
Omar Soto-Chavira
, 22, was injured around 11:30 pm this Thursday when he was detained at a house, said Police Chief Albert Garcia.
The suspect, who eventually
turned himself in
, was taken to a hospital in Lubbock, a city about 30 miles (48 km) west of Levelland, although authorities have not disclosed the severity of his injuries.
To gain access to the home and force the suspect out, authorities used
robots and deployed gas
, Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe told a news conference.
Police had already had contact with the suspect, Hockley County Sheriff Ray Scifres said.
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More than 10 hours of confrontation
Around 11:17 am Thursday, a state trooper noticed at a traffic stop that a person was "recklessly" driving a Chevolet pickup and appeared to be looking for "some kind of confrontation," Garcia said.
Shortly after, around 1:00 pm, someone informed authorities that there was a
man walking with a large gun
at a home in Levelland, an oil and cotton producing hub, where some 13,500 residents live.
When officers arrived, they realized that the parked van matched the description of the vehicle above.
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Concerned that the man was possibly armed, a police negotiator tried to strike up a conversation with the suspect but the suspect
was hostile
and did not want to speak, Garcia said.
Within minutes, the suspect opened the front door of the house and
opened fire on the officers.
"We returned fire, but it doesn't seem like we hit the man at the time," Garcia said.
"He was a true servant"
Sergeant
Josh Bartlett,
the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) command leader
,
was taken to Covenant Health Levelland Hospital where he
died from the severity of his injuries,
according to a statement from the sheriff's office.
Levelland Police Sgt.
Shawn Wilson
is in
critical
but stable condition at University Medical Center in Lubbock after undergoing surgery, Garcia said.
The other three officers were treated for minor injuries and were later released, he added.
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The deceased officer, who
was married with children
,
had been with the department for nine years
and had served in the United States Army.
"Josh was a real servant
," Rowe noted.
"He personified the true law enforcement professional, especially here in Texas," he emphasized.
It is still unknown what led the man to open fire or barricade himself in the house.
During the clash, authorities urged nearby residents to leave their homes and those who refused to leave were advised to stay in the back of their houses and stay low, according to Garcia.
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Police were forced to call in reinforcements from the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office Tactical Squad and the Hockley County Sheriff's Office.
In addition to emergency teams from across the region, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other federal agencies responded to the incident. , according to Garcia.
The Rangers are leading the investigation.
With information from AP, KCBD and NBC News.