Thread: 2 Suspected Illegals Shot State Troops in Tyler, TX

This was in the news in my city, which is 30 minutes East of Tyler, TX. They didn't come right out and say these were illegals, but did state the US Customs and Immigration had been involved..

http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.cfm ... 6369&rfi=6

A Texas lawman is recovering from gunshot wounds while other law enforcement officers press an investigation of two men who allegedly shot the trooper and engaged in a gunbattle with Tyler police.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Steven Stone, 29, was shot Wednesday night when he made a traffic stop on Texas Highway 31 just east of Farm-to-Market Road 2908.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, DPS Capt. Audra Livingston said Stone pulled over Ramon Ramos, 37, and Francisco Saucedo, 38, both of Tulsa, Okla., for a speeding violation.


NEEDS ASSISTANCE

Livingston said that during the stop, Stone "developed probable cause" to place Ramos, the driver, under arrest.

But the driver had another idea.

"After advising the driver of the truck the reason for the stop, Trooper Stone developed probable cause to arrest the driver. During the arrest the driver pulled a 9 mm handgun from his waistband and began firing the weapon point-blank at Trooper Stone, striking him in the left shoulder," he said. "The passenger and driver then began firing multiple rounds at Trooper Stone as he lay in the barditch."

Livingston said that after the suspects left the scene, an injured and bleeding Stone made his way to his patrol car and radioed for help, saying he had been shot and giving a description of the suspect vehicle.

Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith said deputies rushed to the scene to aid the wounded trooper.

"The first deputy arriving is EMT-certified and he determined the trooper needed immediate transport, so he put him in the back of his vehicle and rushed to the hospital," he said.

Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle said his department was notified and blocked traffic for the deputy on the route to East Texas Medical Center. Officers also begin searching for a black or dark-colored pickup carrying the two suspects.

CITIZEN FINDS SUSPECTS

Swindle said that as police searched for the suspects, a phone call led them to the right location.

"We received a call at 9:39 p.m. last night from a citizen who had been monitoring scanner traffic and thought the suspects had just pulled into the La Michoacana Meat Market," he said. The caller described the vehicle as a dark truck with a Hispanic driver.

"We don't know who the person is who called us, but he deserves a lot of credit," Swindle said. "We would like to know who that person is and would like to talk to them."

Swindle said an officer made his way to the Commerce Street and Beckham Avenue area to check the report.

"I guess the suspects got spooked when they saw the officer and they took off. They began firing at the first unit and fired between eight and 10 rounds," he said.

PURSUIT, GUNBATTLE

Swindle said other officers quickly joined the pursuit, which traveled east on Commerce to Loop 323, then to Texas Highway 64, where the suspects hit another vehicle that had pulled to the side of the roadway for emergency vehicles.

Swindle said the suspects fired 75 to 100 rounds during pursuit, though he said that number may be low. Tyler police fired 35 rounds during the chase.

Several Tyler police cars were hit by gunfire and some shots went into the passenger compartments only inches away from officers.

"The speeds were above the limit, but I wouldn't say it was a high-speed chase. When the officers backed off after receiving fire the suspects too slowed down as if to bait the officers. These were very dangerous men," he said.

Swindle said the crash injured the suspects enough that they were taken into custody without any additional gunfire.

Brian Orender, who was on Texas 31 heading to Interstate 20, said he heard gunfire.

Orender, a Hunt County Sheriff's Department jailer, said he was talking on the phone with his wife at the Loop 323 and Texas 31 intersection.

"I started seeing all these patrol units and then I heard shots. I thought, 'Something is definitely going on.' I came to the next intersection and I heard about 10 shots go off," he said.

Orender said his wife kept asking, "What is going on?"

"I told her, 'I don't really know.' I was just sitting there watching police scatter and hearing all of the gunshots," he said.

Orender said that even though he works in law enforcement, the experience was frightening.

"I was looking to see what was going on, but I was also trying to stay down too. It was scary, because I didn't know what exactly what was going on," he said.

INVESTIGATION BEGINS

In the crashed pickup, police found a stash of weapons and both men clad in body armor.

The weapons included a Norinco SKS assault rifle, a Tec 9 9 mm, a Beretta 9 mm and a .22- caliber handgun.

"It would be speculation at this point, but it appears the men were wearing the body armor prior to shooting the trooper. They were coming to Tyler with a bunch of weapons and we don't know what for," Swindle said. "That will be determined later."

Swindle said the DPS, the Texas Rangers, the Smith County Sheriff's Department and his department would all be working different aspects of the incident.

Ramos was released from the hospital into the custody of the Smith County Jail, where he is being held on 14 counts of aggravated assault on a public servant and an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

Saucedo remains in a Tyler hospital in serious condition, but warrants have been issued for his arrest on the same charges as Ramos.

State District Judge Jack Skeen set both men's bonds at $23 million.

Stone is listed in fair condition at ETMC in Tyler.

Swindle said the Wednesday night pursuit is the type his officers would never stop.

"We will not stop pursuing this type of suspects. These guys had already shot a state trooper and they fired on us," he said. I believe they would have shot anyone, so we had to stop them."

Kenneth Dean covers police, fire, public safety organizations. He can be reached at 903.596.6353. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com

Hi .. I posted several accounts of this last night.

If immigration has a "hold" on them they are certainly illegal!