HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A burglary suspect who was involved in a shootout with deputies was arrested after being barricaded inside of a warehouse in northwest Harris County Friday morning, HCSO said.
SWAT sent in a robot around 7 a.m. that spotted the suspect still inside a warehouse located behind a motel off FM 529. He was spotted inside of false ceiling inside of the warehouse. Prior to that, it was unclear if the suspect was inside of the building
They repeatedly deployed tear gas and even brought in a crane to knock down part of the building.
The suspect was finally taken into custody around 9:30 a.m. after more than seven hours.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said this started when deputies got a burglary call just after midnight early Friday. A man wearing a mask was spotted breaking into a business.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they say he immediately fired at them and one of them fired back. That's when the suspect went back into the building.
As for the deputies involved in the shootout, they were not injured.
The 28-year-old suspect has been charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer, burglary and felon in possession of a weapon, according to Gonzalez.
He said Roman Torres was out on bond on previous charges.
"I’m upset just thinking I/we (our agency & community) could’ve had a deputy killed in the line of duty. A defendant that poses a risk to community should be in jail and pending cases need be handled swiftly," the sheriff tweeted. "If evidence supports prosecution there needs to be accountability."