DEPUTY INVOLVED SHOOTING As many of you are well aware of we had an officer involved shooting in Etoile, Texas earlier this morning around 6:00am. The Nacogdoches County Sheriff office, DPS Swat team, U.S. Marshall Service and Pct 4 Constable Office was preparing to serve a high risk felony warrant when Sheriff Bridges observed the subject driving on highway 103E. A Deputy quickly stopped the vehicle, and was fired upon by the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle. I am sure all Etoile Residents were very alarmed this morning when they observed the amount of police cars and helicopters flying over. I attempted to get the news out that everything was okay and under control, however there appeared to be some errors that were reported during the first part of the story this morning. I am sorry for any confusion this may have caused. The sheriff office has worked on this case for several months and we have been concerned that this type of incident could occur. I and several other investigators here at the sheriff office have been working on a peaceful solution that the subject would turn himself in on the warrant for several months, but this never happened. I believe that the suspect in this case was a threat to law enforcement and to the public. Our office, along with DPS and the Marshall Service formulated a plan to apprehend the suspect. Due to the high threat level that the suspect posed we used all resources that was available. This is why you may have seen Swat team armored vehicles and DPS helicopters flying around this morning along with about 50 police officers. However as we were about to execute the search and arrest warrant on the property, I observed the possible suspect driving down 103E. I instructed Deputies to check the vehicle to see if the suspect was in it. Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle at highway 103 E, just west of Rudy’s store (formerly known as Lowerys). As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, the suspect jumped out of his vehicle and ran toward the patrol car firing his weapon. I have seen this on the video tape as well that recorded the incident. The Deputy is very fortunate to have survived the encounter. The Deputy was somehow able to manage to exit the patrol car while shots were being fired and then return fire while the subject was still charging at him. To clear up a few details that was reported: There were no other suspects that we were looking for. The deputy was not physically injured. Highway 103E was shut down due to the shooting that occurred on the highway. It took several hours to process this scene before we could open the highway back up to regular traffic. The amount of officers on scene and helicopters stayed in the Etoile area, due to that we still had to go to the suspect house and look over possible evidence there. Officers were concerned about other possible dangers at the residence itself where the suspect lived. My deepest condolences go out to the Koonce Family. I have known them for just about all my life, and they are good honest people who are law abiding citizens that are well respected in our community. I am asking that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they suffer through this tragic time.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:17:24 +0000
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