Sandy MaloneBowie County, TX – A Bowie County sheriff’s lieutenant was shot in the face on Saturday night in Texarkana after he stopped a man wanted in a multi-state crime spree.
The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office said a 55-year-old woman was fatally shot and a 52-year-old woman was wounded at about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 6 at a home on Private Road 82008 in Texarkana, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
Bowie County Sheriff Jeff Neal said the victims were the in-laws of the suspect, 32-year-old Hector Alejandro Pintor Aguilar.
The sheriff said Aguilar left his in-laws home in a vehicle but then crashed in Sevier County near Horatio, Arkansas, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
Then he carjacked the driver of a 2005 GMC truck at gunpoint and fled north on U.S. Highway 71, according to the sheriff’s department.
Bowie County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Scott Lillis spotted the suspect vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. that night near the intersection of South Kings Highway and U.S. Highway 59 in Texarkana, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
“As Lt. Lillis approached the vehicle from the passenger side, he was shot in the face by the suspect,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release. “Witnesses observed the shooting and attempted to follow the suspect as he fled scene of the injured deputy. They were unable to maintain sight of Aguilar due to his erratic behavior.”
Lt. Lillis was transported to CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital and then airlifted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, KETK reported.
A GoFundMe posted to raise money to help support Lt. Lillis’ family said the military veteran and father had lost “his left eye” and would “possibly be blind in his right eye.”
Sheriff Neal said that after Aguilar fled the scene, he abandoned the stolen truck and carjacked another driver at gunpoint.
The sheriffs said the suspect then ditched that vehicle and fled on foot near the wood line of eastbound Interstate 30, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Telford Unit provided tracking dogs that were able to track Aguilar to a vacant residence on Roy Road (County Road 2206),” the sheriff’s department said. “Tactical units from Texarkana Texas Police Department, Texarkana Arkansas Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety set up a perimeter and eventually located Aguilar within the home using a tactical robot.”
An hours-long standoff with the barricaded suspect ensued, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
“Using tactical cameras, the Texas DPS tactical team were able to locate Aguilar in a specific room within the home,” the sheriff’s department said. “He did not respond to audio or visual stimuli, indicating he may already be deceased.”
Law enforcement made entrance to the residence and found the suspect dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
Our Prayers go out to LT Scott Lillis 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/bSRiVCRBiA
— Peak Fighting (@PeakFighting) August 8, 2022
Lt. Lillis served as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps and a Texarkana police officer before he joined the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office, KETK reported.
Holly Matkin
