A wanted fugitive who had led a 10 hour standoff when the suspect fired at a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper. Other officers at the scene returned fire hitting the suspect multiple times.
For close to 10 hours, the main highway that connects the border city of Laredo with San Antonio was shut down as authorities tried to end a standoff with 25-year-old Adam Vielta, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office revealed.
Breitbart Texas initially reported on the situation upon learning that the standoff had virtually frozen all traffic along the busy corridor. Cotulla is about 67 miles northeast of the border city of Laredo and is home to a U.S. Border Patrol station and checkpoint along Interstate 35, the main highway that connects the border city with San Antonio.
The standoff began shortly after 4:30 a.m. when La Salle County Sheriff’s Deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to a call from Encinal Police about a high speed chase in progress. Vielta’s vehicle stopped at the mile 80 marker between Cotulla and Dilley but he refused to drop his weapon.
A hostage negotiation team from the Texas Department of Public Safety arrived to help get Vielta to peacefully surrender, however after several hours of negotiations, the man fired at a DPS trooper but missed.
A La Salle County deputy and an Encinal police officer fired at Vielta, striking him multiple times. He has since been airlifted to San Antonio. Authorities did not disclose the man’s condition.
Vielta, a resident of Atascosa, Texas had an outstanding warrant from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. The warrant was for charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Earlier today, Breitbart Texas reported on the standoff. Agents with the U.S. Border Patrol responded to calls for assistance to back up the local officers dealing with the wanted fugitive.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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