HOUSTON — On Wednesday, Houston police released multiple videos of a deadly shootout on the Southwest Freeway.
It happened about a month ago, on Oct. 28, in the main lanes of the Southwest Freeway just before the Westpark Tollway. Shortly after the shooting on the freeway, investigators provided an update. At that time, they said the woman and child had left their apartment after a domestic violence incident on Sunday night. They went to a relative's home, but on Monday, her husband, Wilmer Sanchez-Hernandez, showed up and kidnapped them at gunpoint.
According to investigators, they got a report of the kidnapping around 3:45 p.m. that Monday. They said Sanchez-Hernandez had taken the woman and child and was driving a black SUV.
At about 4:15 p.m. that same day, officers said they spotted the SUV leaving an apartment complex where Sanchez-Hernandez was known to frequent. They said they tried to pull him over but he kept driving away when officers would get out to approach the SUV.
Officers said Sanchez-Hernandez fired at them at least two times during the low-speed chase. The woman was pleading with her husband to stop but he wouldn't listen, according to Rangecast audio during the chase.
Around 4:40 p.m., authorities said Sanchez-Hernandez got onto the Southwest Freeway main lanes. They said officers were able to quickly disable the SUV once it got onto the freeway. As officers approached the SUV, at least three of them opened fire on Sanchez-Hernandez, who was hit and pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. No officers were injured in the incident.
Two hostages were rescued from the SUV -- a woman and a small child, according to police. Neither one of them was injured.
"I want to commend our officers and supervisors. It is a tremendous amount of information they have to take in during a situation like this -- a mobile hostage scene where they were shot at two separate times -- yet they continued to do what was right and try to save these hostages and at the end of the day both hostages were rescued unharmed because of the courageous acts of our officers and our supervisors," an investigator at the scene said.
According to investigators, Sanchez-Hernandez's gun and spent casings were found in the SUV.
The scene caused the Southwest Freeway to be closed during rush hour for several hours as investigators worked to gather evidence.