HARRIS COUNTY – A man who led deputies on a high-speed chase while holding his ex-wife and toddler at gunpoint in east Harris County is dead.
The man, according to authorities, was shot after they rescued his two hostages.
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Investigators say the ex-wife, 29, had endured a history of abuse and left him a couple of weeks ago.
“There was a lot of tension in the relationship,” said Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne.
On Tuesday, the family said the 39-year-old gunman intended to take his ex-wife and three children to Mexico, where he’s from.
“That’s what my daughter told me when I called him on the phone when he started the police chase,” Arturo Escoveo, the ex-wife’s father said.
The ordeal started around 8:30 Tuesday morning when Chambers County Sheriff’s Office got a heads up from both Rosenberg police and Harris County Sheriff’s Office that the gunman fired shots at a home in Harris County and abducted his ex-wife and three-year-old child against their will.
Deputies with Fort Bend County spotted the vehicle and started chasing the gunman.
Update 2: suspect has been confirmed deceased on-scene. I’m enroute to the scene. https://t.co/mkuKytWBNf
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) April 30, 2024
At some point, Harris County investigators got him on the phone.
He told them he was going to his home in Cove to pick up his other two children. Investigators tried to negotiate with him, but that didn’t work. He also told them he planned to commit suicide by cop, according to Sheriff Hawthorne.
Officers set up a blockade about seven minutes away from the gunman’s home.
That’s where deputies rescued the woman and child and shot the gunman, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales.
The ex-wife’s father said he really didn’t know much about what was going on in the relationship because he stayed out of his daughter’s business. But he did pass along this message for other victims of domestic abuse.
“Tell the rest of the people when they have problems to call police or talk to someone close to them.”
Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.