KATY, Texas – A 54-year-old woman is dead after a welfare check at her home near Houston led to a four-hour armed standoff that ended with sheriff's deputies shooting her dead.
The incident happened on Thursday at 20406 Blue Beech Drive in Katy. The Harris County Sheriff's Office says deputies arrived at Lucille Espinosa's home about 2:30 p.m. They found Espinosa with a handgun and behaving in a "belligerent" and threatening manner.
"When they got here she was very confrontational, very belligerent, she was armed with a weapon, a handgun, and had threatened deputies several times," Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said. "The female came to the open window and pointed a handgun at the deputies that were standing there."
The deputies withdrew and called in the tactical squad. After four hours of negotiation, squad members approached the house at 6:05 p.m. and broke a window to use gas to drive her into the open. Instead, the woman came to the window and pointed a gun at the deputies, who opened fire on her.
"We had more than two dozen people out here trying to save her life, we hope for these things to end peacefully," Gilliland said.
