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Man’s Alleged Escape From Police Fuels Sniper Rumors

By Daniel Borunda, The El Paso Times

A man who police said was armed and suicidal was the target of a daylong search that included the police SWAT team and led to school lockdowns and rumors.

An unarmed Cristoval Ruiz, 35, turned himself in to police about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

The surrender -- on a charge of evading arrest in a motor vehicle -- was the end of a day that included a widely reported rumor that a sniper had threatened to shoot mourners at Officer Angel Andrew Barcena’s funeral.

“There was no threat made at the funeral or anything like that,” police spokesman Javier Sambrano said. Ruiz “has not made any threats to anybody.”

A search began at 1:35 a.m. when West Side officers tried to pull Ruiz over in the 200 block of Festival after he reportedly made suicidal comments during repeated calls to police dispatchers, Sambrano said.

Ruiz allegedly sped away and escaped, Sambrano said.

Ruiz was reportedly spotted before dawn near Franklin High School with a rifle, police said. Then he was reportedly seen near Resler Drive and Trans Mountain Road, where the funeral procession would later pass. Officers and helicopters in the massive procession were alerted to be vigilant, which might have spawned the rumor of a threat.

Before noon, an unidentified person at El Paso Community College left voluntarily for El Paso police protection because of a link to Ruiz, college police said.

At 1 p.m., Ruiz’s car was found abandoned on Interstate 10 East near Sunset Heights, police said.

About 2 p.m., the Special Weapons And Tactics team searched an empty house in Sunset Heights.

Nearby Vilas Elementary School and St. Patrick Cathedral School were locked down as a precaution, school officials said. Guards were posted at entrances, and children were not allowed outdoors.

“They just said, ‘It’s serious,’ ” Sara Sanchez, 12, of St. Patrick school said, adding that she was never scared.