Shooting & Car Crash In Arlington Leaves 2 Officers, Suspect Injured
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - There was an officer-involved shooting in Arlington Friday.
Police say the incident began after receiving a 'suspicious person' call about a vehicle at the Baymont Inn & Suites, near Six Flags.
Arlington police Lieutenant Chris Cook said when the dispatcher retrieved license plate information on the vehicle it was listed as possibly being stolen out of Dallas.
When officers arrived at the scene they say a female passenger and a male driver were in the suspect vehicle. A third person had exited the car and gone inside the hotel.
Police say the officers ordered those in the car to roll the windows down and throw the keys out of the vehicle, but the driver did not respond to commands. At some point, the passenger door opened and police say they were able to get the female out of the car.
Lt. Cook said the driver would not exit the car and proceeded to try and flee. "They noticed the driver's trying to get it [the car] into gear. It goes in reverse, then it goes back into park. The car dies at one point and he gets the car started again from what I'm being told," he said.
Two Arlington police officers were hurt once the suspect got the car moving. "When he reverses his vehicle he strikes one officer in the left knee," Lt. Cook explained. "He strikes a second officer, that's standing on the passenger side, and the passenger door actually knocks the officer onto the ground as the vehicle is backing up."
Police say the officer knocked to the ground by the door fired at least one shot and hit the suspect. That man was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition.
The injured officer who fired was also taken to the hospital and is said to have non-life threatening injuries. The officer who was hit in the knee by the suspect car was treated at the scene and police say he is going to be fine.
Lt. Cook said they had no problem later locating the third person who had been in the car. "When we [police officers] first got on scene one of the officers was in an unmarked unit and could see the suspects and was basically able to give a play-by-play of what they were doing. That's how we knew the third suspect had exited the vehicle and went inside the hotel."
The suspect, identified as 39-year old Shaun Veloz, will be charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer and one felony count of Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle.
The woman was released at the scene after interviews.
The third subject was located inside the hotel and was initially detained but later released at the scene.
Investigators have located video surveillance from the hotel that captured the encounter. Detectives will build a timeline of sequencing based upon the facts available.