A man and his last hostage “peacefully” came out of a Texas home he had barricaded in for more than 16 hours after three police officers who responded to the house were shot.
Police were called to the home, located outside of Austin, at about 3:10 p.m. local time Sunday and were met with gunfire, according to police. Three officers were shot and taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
Officers had returned fire but were unsure if the man was wounded, Interim Cedar Park Police Chief Mark Harmon said Sunday night, according to NBC affiliate KXAN.
The man was initially barricaded inside the house with his mother, brother and sister, police said.
He first released his siblings and a small dog at about 8 a.m. local time Monday morning, Interim Cedar Park Police Chief Mark Harmon said.
Two of the injured police officers were released from the hospital Sunday night, and a third was in surgery Monday morning, Harmon said.
Officers had returned fire but were unsure if the man was wounded, Harmon had said Sunday night, according to NBC affiliate KXAN.
The man is thought to be in his 20s and has a history of mental health issues. Police said they have responded to the residence before, but did not give specifics.
On Sunday, the man’s mother reported that he had kicked in the door and was acting aggressively.
“If you’re listening, please come out and surrender yourself peacefully so we can resolve this situation tonight,” Harmon had pleaded with the man Sunday night.
On Monday, he said the man had been “open” to communicating with the negotiation team by telephone throughout the night.
“What I do want to say is we’re reaching out to this young man to let him know that we want to end this in a peaceful resolution,” Harmon said before the man came out of the home with his mother. “We don’t want anyone else to get hurt. We want to get him the help that he needs, and we want him to come out so we can end this peacefully”
At 4:30 a.m. Monday, police told residents who lived on Natalie Cove, in the Heritage Park subdivision, to stay inside their homes until they were told it was safe to leave. A tweet from the city asked people to avoid the area.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement that “our hearts are with the police officers who were injured while protecting the Cedar Park community this afternoon.”
“We must never take for granted the service and sacrifice of our law enforcement officers, and the State of Texas stands ready to provide the support and resources needed to bring justice to those involved,” the governor’s statement said.
