ATASCOSA COUNTY, Texas – Interstate 37 South in Atascosa County is shut down Friday after law enforcement officers shot and killed a murder suspect from Corpus Christi, Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said.
The highway is shut down between FM 3006 and the Bexar County line northeast of Pleasanton, Soward said.
Motorists are urged to avoid the area as the interstate is expected to be closed for several hours.
Soward told KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi that an officer with the Atascosa County District Attorney’s Office tried to stop a pickup truck the suspect was driving when he sped off.
A DPS trooper set up some road spikes near the Bexar County line that flattened two of the suspect’s truck tires, causing him to swerve into the median, Soward said.
The suspect, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, jumped from the vehicle armed with a rifle and opened fire on officers, Soward said. The officers returned fire, killing the man.
An officer with the Nueces County District Attorney’s office told KRIS-TV that the suspect was wanted in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in a home by relatives early Friday.
The suspect was a former law enforcement officer who at one time worked for the Nueces County Precinct 4 Constables Office, the DA’s office said.
We will update this story as we gather more information.