A 38-year-old Brownsville man accused of shooting a police officer July 4 is facing a slew of charges, including attempted capital murder.
A 38-year-old Brownsville man accused of shooting a police officer July 4 is facing a slew of charges, including attempted capital murder.
The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Luis Armendariz Jr., 38, on Monday afternoon on 10 warrants after the man, who was shot in the stomach during the gunfire exchange, was released from Valley Regional Medical Center, DPS Spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Montalvo said via email.
Armendariz, who spent 12 days in the hospital and underwent surgery, is charged with aggravated robbery, theft, six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a public servant and attempted capital murder.
Salazar is being held at the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Facility without bond, jail records show.
Police officers responding to a report of an alleged aggravated robbery at about 1:20 a.m. July 4 on the 700 block of Alton Gloor Boulevard at the CVS Pharmacy y Más exchanged gunfire with Salazar.
Brownsville Police Department Officer Mario Garza, a 16-year veteran, sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg, police have said.
Authorities have not identified the officer who fired the shot that struck Garza or released a motive.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.
This is the second officer-involved shooting this year in Brownsville.
On Easter, still unidentified Cameron County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 23-year-old Luis Yia Alvarez after responding to a domestic disturbance call on the 2600 block of Avenida Florencia in Cameron Park.
At the time, Sheriff Omar Lucio said Alvarez confronted the deputies in the parking lot in front of his mother’s apartment and walked toward the deputies with a knife in his hand, disobeying commands to drop the weapon.
The man’s mother, Esmerelda Vega, said the day after the shooting that her son did have a knife when he was shot but said his hands were in the air.
That investigation is ongoing and could last a few more months, Lucio has said.
