SAN ANTONIO – A 46-year-old man led law enforcement officers on a chase in Atascosa and Bexar counties Tuesday morning before he was shot near an elementary school, officials said.
The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, said Deputy Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.
Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said the chase started around 10 a.m. in Pleasanton, where police tried to pull over a pickup truck to arrest the driver who was wanted on a parole violation for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The driver stopped and everyone got out of the pickup, but the driver suddenly got back in it and drove off and a chase ensued, Soward said.
As the pickup approached Interstate 37 and Highway 97, the driver shot at officers, Soward said.
Moments later, the pickup truck went through some spikes that BCSO deputies had planted near Highway 181 and I-37 in hopes of disabling the vehicle.
While the spikes flattened both of the driver’s side tires, the suspect drove into Bexar County on I-37 and then into Highway 90, where at some point he fired shots at law enforcement officers again, Garcia said.
The suspect then drove to the intersection of Dumont and Springvale, where he got out of the pickup and shot at BCSO deputies and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, Garcia said.
The deputies and troopers fired back, hitting the man several times in the upper torso, Garcia said.
None of the law enforcement officers were injured.
Allen Elementary School and Rayburn Middle School were placed under lockdown. Allen will remain under lockdown for several more hours as law enforcement process the scene.
There’s no word yet about which hospital the suspect was taken for treatment.
The suspect’s passenger was taken in for questioning and was released.