Attempted bank robbery suspect killed by HCSO deputies

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A tense standoff with an armed bank robber ended Sunday afternoon near West Road and Eldridge in northwest Harris County, when members of the Harris County Sheriff's Department high-risk operations unit opened fire, shooting that suspect multiple times.

The entire episode started at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, with the suspect robbing The Wood Forest Bank on FM 1960.

Sheriff's deputies chased that suspect to a business parking lot where the suspect suddenly got out of his car and held a gun to his head, threatening to kill himself.

As Sheriff's Department negotiators tried to talk the suspect into surrendering, several times the gunman fired random shots into the ground in front of him.

The Sheriff's Department SWAT team fired at least two, non-lethal, rubber balls at the gunman to persuade him to give up, but it didn't work.

Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Gilliland said at one point the gunman raised his pistol and pointed it at officers. 

That's when members of the high-risk operations unit fired their weapons, hitting the gunman at least 3 times.

That man was immediately taken into custody and transported by Life Flight to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. 


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