The man who fatally shot himself after police responded to an early morning domestic dispute on Nov. 21 has been identified as 32-year-old Azarel Gonzalez, who threatened suicide prior to law enforcement’s arrival at the scene of the incident, according to police.
His identity was revealed in a custodial death report the Weslaco Police Department submitted on Wednesday to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
That document reveals that Gonzalez had threatened to shoot himself if police responded to the disturbance.
In a news release, police said Gonzalez had boxed in his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and approached her with a gun.
However, the report says responding officers had exited their vehicles at approximately 3:53 a.m. in the 300 block of Tierra Santa Street when Gonzalez exited his vehicle with a rifle.
“The male subject identified as Azarel Gonzalez then shot himself,” the report stated. “One of the Officers shot a rifle at the direction of the subject. The shots did not appear to strike any of the subject(s) or any other personnel at location.”
The news release had stated that Gonzalez approached the woman’s vehicle, though the custodial death report does not say that.
The report also states that Gonzalez’s vehicle had hit the woman’s vehicle before the shooting.
“The preliminary investigation revealed that one of the parties was allegedly striking the other vehicle causing damage as it waited to enter the gate of a residential subdivision,” the news release had stated. “Officers were further notified before arriving on scene that the parties involved were a female, and her ex-boyfriend who was allegedly driving the car-ramming the SUV.”
Gonzalez would have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon had he not killed himself, according to the report.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.
