By James Barragan
Austin American-Statesman
LEANDER, Texas — The search for a man who fired a gun at an off-duty state trooper in Leander continued after a six-hour search on Saturday failed to yield an arrest.
Leander police responded to a call about a shooting at the intersection of Marin Cove and Union Street in the Horizon Park subdivision around 4:15 a.m. Saturday. When police arrived, they spoke with Eugenio Cruz Jr., an off-duty Department of Public Safety sergeant who was shot at while driving home in his private vehicle.
Cruz told police he was driving southbound on Union Street when he saw a man sitting in a park at the intersection. The man walked into the street and tried to wave him down, Cruz said. As the man came closer, Cruz saw that he was carrying a gun in his hand just as the man fired a shot through the car’s driver’s side window, police said.
The man who fired the shot fled the scene.
The investigation indicates that more than one round might have been fired, police said.
Cruz wasn’t hit by the shots, but received minor injuries from the shattering of the glass in his car, police said. He was taken to Scott & White Hospital in Round Rock where he was treated and released.
Leander police and the DPS conducted an hours-long search of the area for the man, who they described as a white or Hispanic male between 18 and 20 years old. They blocked off parts of the neighborhood, including Marin Cove and parts of Union Street. The DPS used one of its helicopters to assist in the search.
Authorities said they hadn’t located the man by the end of the search, which wrapped up about 12:40 p.m., but they had found some evidence, including a baseball cap believed to have been worn by the man, a discarded shirt and shell casings believed to be from the man’s weapon.
Police said the reason for the shooting remains unclear. Authorities are unsure if Cruz, who wasn’t wearing a DPS uniform, was the target of a crime or if he interrupted a crime in progress, police said.
Police said that Cruz didn’t fire back at the suspect.
At about 2 p.m., police encouraged neighborhood residents to go about their normal activities. They asked community members to be aware of the incident and report any suspicious activity to the Leander Police Department.
Anyone with information about the shooting can call Leander police Detective Woodson Blase at 512-528-2849.
Copyright 2015 Austin American-Statesman, Texas