El Paso Times
HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas — Hudspeth County sheriff’s deputies and state game wardens shot and killed a 14-year-boy after he ran away from home, stopped at a ranch and then allegedly fired at officers who wanted to take him home.
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said the deadly confrontation started as a simple search for a runaway. The boy had left his family’s ranch in Hudspeth County on Saturday and was reported missing by his parents Sunday.
West said authorities had problems with the boy at school in the past in the desolate county east of El Paso County. The boy’s name had not been released.
A Texas Department of Public Safety news release stated an initial investigation by the Texas Rangers found the teen had broken into a deer camp at Gunsight Ranch, about 20 miles north of Sierra Blanca.
West said one of his deputies and a Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden found the boy at a hunters’ camp at Gunsight Ranch.
“They told him (the boy) they were looking for him,” West said. “He said ‘That’s me.’ They said, ‘Your parents are concerned about you. You need to come with us.’ The boy then drew a weapon.”
The boy had a rifle and a handgun and refused to go. The teen then allegedly fired shots as the officers retreated.
According to the Texas DPS account, the boy fired several shots and fled to another camp. Officers followed him to the second camp, urging him to put down the weapons but the boy continued firing. He ran to a third spot, where he climbed to the top of a barn and shot at officers.
Dozens of shots were fired in an area spanning a mile and a half, West said. At one point, deputies brought the boy’s mother to the scene to try to get her son to surrender, but the teen took a shot at her, West said.
“The officers backed off, backed off and backed off. He finally got them where they couldn’t back off anymore,” West said.
The end came while the boy was atop the roof of the barn and took aim at a game warden.
“He had a clear shot at a game warden,” West said. Fearing for the game warden’s life, law enforcement officers fired and shot the boy, who died at the scene. The officers were not hurt.
Five law enforcement officers -- two deputies and three game wardens -- were involved in the confrontation, West said.
The names of the deputies were not immediately released. One of the deputies involved in the shooting has been with the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office for five or six years. The other deputy has been with the agency for about a year.
The shooting is under investigation by the Texas Rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the El Paso District Attorney’s Office. The El Paso district attorney investigates all officer-involved shootings and has jurisdiction on felonies in El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson counties in far West Texas.
Copyright 2010 El Paso Times