The San Marcos Police Department has identified the officer who was killed and the two other officers injured while responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday evening.
A man fatally shot one officer and wounded two others at Twin Lake Villas Apartments. The suspect died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
The slain officer was 31-year-old Justin Putnam. Putnam had been an SMPD officer for five and a half years and graduated from Texas State University, Interim Police Chief Bob Klett said during a press conference Sunday morning.
“We lost a fine young man, faithful officer and friend last night,” Klett said. “He leaves behind a fiancé and a family that also has a public safety background. We pray for the family.”
The two wounded officers are Franco Stewart and Justin Mueller. Both have been SMPD officers for less than a year. The two were taken to Ascension Seton Hospital in Kyle, where they underwent surgery Saturday night. They are now in critical but stable condition in the ICU, Klett said.
“Our prayers are with these two officers and their families as they fight to recover from their wounds,” Klett said.
The deceased suspect has been preliminarily identified as 46-year-old Alfredo Perez De La Cruz, Klett said, and the police department is working with the Texas Rangers to confirm his identity.
The initial domestic disturbance call notified police that the suspect had hit his wife, there were other endangered people inside the home and alcohol was involved, Klett said. When officers entered the home, they were ambushed and there was “nothing they could do to escape the gunfire,” Klett said.
The family members of the suspect are fine, Klett said.
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