This post has been updated. It was originally published on Monday, Aug. 17, at 4:28 p.m.
A man entered a Weslaco Walmart armed with a hand gun and an assault rifle on Monday. Shortly after the store was evacuated, the man died in a shoot-out with police officers.
Dr. Joel Rivera, Weslaco chief of police said a call of service came at 3:06 p.m., and their officers arrived two minutes later.
Rivera said the male suspect entered the store and had a confrontation with a customer and pointed a gun at that customer. Then police made contact with the suspect, who had an assault rifle. Officers told him to throw his gun on the ground, and he did.
Stay safe weslaco peeps, there’s a person with a gun at the Walmart on texas. pic.twitter.com/XKmWCJ3OqN
— Angel Cortez (@Bvckwoods__) August 17, 2020
"At some point he refused to show the officers his hands and the officers say that he was very distraught, he was irate, concerning a medical issue or medical condition, what that is is we don’t know," Rivera said.
After refusing to show his hands, the suspect took out a handgun, Rivera said. Officers attempted to resolve the situation through the use of less-than-lethal force, then the suspect fired at the officers. They shot back, killing the suspect.
The identification of the individual has not been released and the Texas Rangers are taking over the investigation.
Reynaldo Leaños Jr. can be reached at Reynaldo@TPR.org and on Twitter at @ReynaldoLeanos
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