HOUSTON — A dayslong hostage situation ended Thursday with one person dead in a shooting in north Houston, according to the FBI.
The FBI said a rescue operation took place at a motel off Beltway 8 in the Greenspoint area.
FBI officials said the incident was the result of an operation that spanned several days. According to the Associated Press, the FBI was working with the Waller County Sheriff's Office to figure out how to save three migrants who had been kidnapped in a neighboring county.
According to the AP, the migrants were kidnapped after they were stopped by an unknown group of people on I-10 in Waller County on March 18. They were then forced into another vehicle and taken away. Officials said someone involved called 911 and told the Waller County Sheriff's Office about the kidnappings, according to the AP report. WCSO officials contacted the FBI to get them involved in the case.
The AP reported that the kidnappers demanded money from the family of at least one of the migrants. They said the family paid some money, but the kidnappers asked for more. An AP source said that during negotiations, the kidnappers sent law enforcement videos of them beating one of the hostages.
FBI agent Jim Smith said their investigation began on March 21 when they were asked to help the WCSO.
Around 4:30 a.m. Thursday, an FBI rescue team was working to get the hostages out of the motel when shots were fired, Smith said. One suspect was killed and a second suspect was taken into custody, Smith said.
"The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team is an elite group of agents who pass a challenging selection process and training course. They deploy in any environment or conditions to respond to hostage situations, barricaded suspects, high-risk arrests, undercover operations and surveillance operations," according to the FBI website.
Two hostages were rescued at the motel, according to Smith.
"All the hostages have been safely rescued, no FBI agents are injured, and one individual is deceased," the FBI said in a statement. The FBI said a review team will investigate the shooting.
Smith said there was no public threat as of Thursday afternoon.
There was also a heavy law enforcement presence at a nearby distribution center but it's unclear if that scene is connected to the kidnappings.
No agents were hurt in the incident, the FBI said. The FBI declined to comment on how they found the migrants, what led up to the shooting or how many agents were involved.
The kidnapped migrants had crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico, according to the AP.
Here's the update the FBI provided at the scene: