Sandy MaloneHouston, TX – The gunman who shot three Houston police officers during a long gunfight and then carjacked a woman at gunpoint on Thursday was taken into custody after a several-hours-long standoff with police (video below).
The incident began at about 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 27 when Houston police responded to a call about a domestic dispute in the 1500-block of Tralle Street in Third Ward, KHOU reported.
Police said that Roland Caballero fled the scene in his Dodge Charger when he saw officers arriving and officers pursued him, KTRK reported.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said Caballero crashed his car a short time later at the intersection of McGowan Street and Hutchins.
Chief Finner said Caballero immediately began shooting at officers with a modified automatic weapon, KTRK reported.
Officers returned fire and the long gunfight was captured on cell phone video by bystanders.
Two officers were shot and police vehicles in the area sustained serious damage.
Video showed that Caballero slid out of the passenger doors of his wrecked car and tried to make a run for it.
He dashed out from behind the car and then ran down the street with officers on his heels, the video showed.
Caballero ran up to a white Mercedes that was pulling into a driveway on the street and forced the female driver to get out of the car at gunpoint, the video showed.
While Caballero was carjacking the woman, he took several shots at approaching officers over the roof of the car.
The gunman led officers on a chase in the stolen Mercedes that ended in the 8100-block of Lockwood in the Fifth Ward, KTRK reported.
Police said Caballero barricaded himself inside the residence for hours.
He was ultimately taken into custody by Houston police at about 7:45 p.m. the same night, KHOU reported.
Officials said Caballero had sustained a gunshot wound to the neck before he was arrested but it wasn’t yet known if he had shot himself or been wounded by the officers in the gunfight.
Chief Finner said two police officers were shot during the gun battle after Caballero crashed at McGowan Street and Hutchins, KTRK reported.
A third officer sustained a gunshot wound as he ran to try and intervene as Caballero carjacked the woman in the Mercedes, according to the police chief.
All three wounded officers were transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital for treatment and all were expected to survive their wounds, KHOU reported.
Houston police identified the wounded heroes as 35-year-old Officer N. Gadson, 32-year-old Officer D. Hayden, and 28-year-old Officer A. Alvarez.
Thank you for the prayers today for our 3 injured officers:
Ofc. N. Gadson, 35, 4 years of service
Ofc. D. Hayden, 32, 3 years of service
Ofc. A. Alvarez, 28, 2 years of service
All work at NE Patrol & are stable.Please continue to pray for them & their families. #hounews
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 28, 2022
Court records showed that Caballero had at least three prior felony convictions and had recently been charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful carrying of a weapon, KHOU reported.
Chief Finner called on the community to get involved in fighting the gun problem and violent crime in their communities.
“I want everybody, all our leaders, no more excuses, everybody take an active role and get intentional and do whatever you can do to fight gun violence,” the police chief told reporters. “It’s not a difficult thing.”
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content:
Suspect shoots at 3 Houston police officers, surrenders after standoff
*News & Information ONLY
Houston, Texas. — The man accused of shooting and injuring three Houston Police Department officers surrendered to authorities Thursday night. #policeshootout #houston pic.twitter.com/FVh246MNIo
— PPV_TAHOE (@newschannelppv) January 28, 2022
Holly Matkin
