More than a dozen Texas police officers took down a man who went into a border-area Walmart store dressed in black and carrying multiple weapons he allegedly utilized to threaten shoppers. Officers shot the suspect several times after he fired at them during the confrontation. The alleged gunman died at the scene.
The incident began shortly after 3 p.m. at the Walmart in Weslaco, Texas, Police Chief Joel Rivera said in a streamed interview.
“A man with a rifle wearing all black went into the Walmart,” Rivera said describing the call for service. “We believe that the suspect entered the Walmart thru the north side entrance, had a confrontation with a customer, ended up pointing a gun at the customer … he made his way to the back of the store.”
Police officers arrived at the store two minutes after receiving the 911 call and evacuated the store. Other officers searched for the gunman, the chief said. The officers found the gunman and ordered to him drop the rifle, which he did.
“The officers described him as distraught and irate, possibly suffering from a medical condition,” Rivera said. “He produced a handgun, our officers tried to use less lethal means.”
The suspect then fired at police and multiple officers fired back fatally wounding the suspect. According to Rivera, the case has been turned over to Texas Rangers for investigation.
No officers or bystanders were injured in the shootout, Rivera said.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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