ALVIN, Texas – A kidnapping suspect was very seriously wounded after trading shots with Alvin police officers in the middle of the street Monday morning.
Around 9 a.m. Monday neighbors heard shots ring out. Karina Cornejo grabbed her 5-year-old daughter and dove for cover.
"I just hid my daughter like under the bed. You never know if this is going to be like a bullet that will go through the window or something and hit your kid," she said.
Six doors down, Alvin police cornered 38-year-old Alfredo Vazquez, who earlier allegedly kidnapped his own month-old child in Houston after a fight with the baby's mother. The officers found him in his SUV outside his mother's trailer house. They tried to talk him into surrendering.
"At one point, he opened the driver's door and kind of rolled his hip and fired three rounds into the closest police car," said Capt. Todd Arendell, with the Alvin Police Department.
The officers didn't return fire for fear of hitting the baby.
As they continued to negotiate with Vazquez, he told them the child was in the trailer with his grandmother. Then he allegedly fired at them again. This time, two of the officers fired back.
"They waited awhile. When they were finally able to advance on the vehicle, they could see that he was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. At this point, we don't know whether it is a self-inflicted gunshot wound or one of the ones from our return fire," said Arendell.
Investigators recovered at least 16 empty shell casings.
Vazquez is listed in critical condition at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. His baby and his mother, who were in the trailer at the time, were not injured.