Two adult suspects and one juvenile were in custody Tuesday evening following a police chase, officer-involved shooting and a stolen car Tuesday morning near Porter Early College High School, police said.
Brownsville police were first notified of the events at 8:44 a.m. Tuesday on a call from a victim indicating that a 2011 gray Ford Focus had been stolen from the 2900 block of East 32nd Street, Martin Sandoval, spokesman for the Brownsville Police Department, said.
Moments later, at 8:48 a.m., Brownsville police received a call for assistance from Brownsville Independent School District police dispatch.
“Preliminary information received from BISD was that subjects in a gray Ford Focus had shot toward Porter High School; a BISD officer had observed the vehicle and was now in pursuit of the car near in the area of North Expressway and Boca Chica Boulevard,” Sandoval stated in a news release late Tuesday afternoon.
Sandoval said BPD is treating the incident as an officer involved shooting “because there were shots fiired inside the property of Porter High School.”
He said the investigation would determine who fired the shots. The two adult suspects in the case are to be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Brownsville city jail.
Sandoval provided this timeline of events:
>> 8:49:20 a.m. – Notification for assistance is aired out to BPD officers.
>> 8:49:50 a.m – BPD officer on patrol arrives to assist BISD officers as the suspects had “bailed” out of the suspect vehicle at an abandoned building near Lincoln Street and McDavitt Boulevard.
>> 8:49:50 a.m. – BPD dispatch directs all available BPD officers to the scene to assist.
>>8:56:35 a.m. – A suspect identified as Rodrigo Rivera is taken into custody at the 200 block of McDavitt, police said. At that time, it was learned that BISD PD officers had taken custody of a second male subject, identified as Carlos Castellanos, during the incident at Porter, police said.
>> 8:59:31 a.m. – BPD Investigators at the scene developed identifying information on the third suspect, a male juvenile, involved in the incident.
>> 10:29:23 – Investigators worked with cooperating parties to locate the third and final suspect at the 200 Block of Shary Drive.
During the incident, erroneous information was released via social media or other means of a shooting incident at Perkins Middle School, Sandoval said.
“When that information was revealed to BPD, we confirmed with BISD PD that the campus was safe. No incidents had been reported to them. Additionally, BPD officers were sent to the school to ensure the safety of students and staff at Perkins, as parents were arriving in the masses,” Sandoval stated in the news release.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as Rodrigo Rivera, 18, police said. He is being charged with possession of marijuana, five counts of aggravated assault on a public servant, theft by possession, evading arrest by motor vehicle, and evading arrest on foot, police said.
The individual that was left behind at Porter was identified as Carlos Castellanos , 17, police said. He is being charged with possession of a controlled substance, Xanax, and theft by possession, police said.
The third subject was located at 10:29 a.m. He is a 16-year-old male and is being charged with theft by possession, five counts of aggravated assault on a public servant, and evading arrest on foot, police said.
Sandoval said an investigation is ongoing and that more information would be released as it becomes available.
Tuesday morning, Porter was placed under lockdown as soon as the incident began to unfold, BISD Superintendent René Gutiérrez said at a late-morning news conference.
“The safety and security of our students there at Porter was never compromised. … Our officers are well trained and this training came into practice today. … I’m thankful that everything we have done to keep our students and staff safe was in practice today.”
BISD Police Chief Oscar Garcia said the situation remains fluid.
“I want to reiterate to our school community that our students are safe,” Garcia said at the news conference. “They are safe at school. Our parents need to know that we have police presence, we’ve always had them at our schools. … Our students are fine, this is the first day of class and they are doing very well. We are safe.”
Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said it was unfortunate that the school year had to begin this way but that training had paid off.
“We’ve learned so much in the recent months with tragedies that have happened not only in Texas but across the nation, and we took those lessons and we put them into practice,” he said. “This today brings about the collaborative effort, what collectively we have been able to achieve, the response, the safety of not only our students but our public is paramount to us, as you can see from those standing behind us, from our city officials to our county district attorney.”
Sauceda said officials were happy “to be able to report this level of response. We’re not going to replay this tomorrow, but we do have a certain level of preparedness for these types of events.”
Sauceda said officials would keep the public abreast of developments.
