Texas Cop Ambushed During Traffic Stop, Suspect in Custody

With no warning, a Texas man shot a police officer multiple times and fled from the scene of the traffic stop. The officer is currently in stable condition and the suspect is in custody.

A Burleson, Texas, police officer pulled over a vehicle with an “equipment violation” early Wednesday morning. As the officer approached the passenger side door, someone inside the vehicle opened fire — without warning. The suspect fired through the window and struck the officer multiple times, NBCDFW reported. The shooting took place near Burleson High School at about 4:15 a.m. Burleson is located a few miles south of Fort Worth.

“He walked up to the window. He got to the window and shots came very quickly, within just a couple of seconds,” Burleson Chief of Police Billy Cordell told reporters. “He had no warning, nowhere really to go. We’re very lucky he’s in stable condition right now.

“He was ambushed,” the chief said. “No other way to say it. He was absolutely ambushed.”

The vehicle drove away from the scene. The driver later abandoned the vehicle about two miles away. It appears the suspects attempted to set the vehicle on fire.

A manhunt began for the shootings suspect identified by police as 39-year-old Jerry Don Elders, a white male. Police later took him in custody in Gainseville, Texas, approximately 80 miles north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Police described the wounded officer as a 3-4-year veteran of the department. He is reported to be in stable condition at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

Investigators say the officer’s dashcam and body cam captured the shooting. They are not releasing those videos today, CBSDFW reported.

Officials reported the original vehicle driven by the suspect had one other man and a woman inside.

After abandoning the maroon SUV, police believe Elders and his two passengers went to a woman’s house, kidnapped her, and stole her truck. The woman, identified as Robin Waddell, was reportedly shot and dumped at the Joshua, Texas, Police Department station. EMS transported the woman to a hospital where doctors pronounced her deceased. Joshua is located just south of Burleson.

Following the issuance of a “Blue Alert,” police received a hit from a license plate reader in Denton County, north of Fort Worth. The manhunt continued until Gainseville police officers spotted the truck and initiated a traffic stop.

The three suspects reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to hide in a wooded area, NBCDFW reported. Burleson Police Chief Billy Cordell said the Gainseville officers found the three suspects and placed them in custody.

“The person we believe shot our officer and was likely involved in the death of a lady is in custody now,” the chief told reporters.

Elders is being transported to Johnson County where he will be held on a $1 million bond for shooting the Burleson police officer. Charges related to the kidnapping and murder of Ms. Waddell have not yet been announced.

Chief Cordell said the officer sustained bullet wounds to the chest, shoulder, and neck. The chief called the officer’s survival “a remarkable story.”

“I visited with him at the hospital, he is alert, he’s in stable condition and speaking,” Cordell said. “We’re just very thankful. It could have been a very different outcome. We’re very thankful this officer is going to recover.”

On Tuesday, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Mayor Mike Elliott told reporters he does not believe police officers need to have weapons during “every traffic stop,” Breitbart News reported.

The mayor’s statement followed the police shooting of Duante Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday.