MIDLOTHIAN, Texas - Three police officers and a state trooper were shot and wounded Sunday during a standoff at an apartment complex began with a broken window and stretched into the night, officials said.
Hundreds of people gathered around the two-story brick building, which was illuminated after nightfall by high powered lights, and bursts of gunfire punctuated the air throughout the evening.
Officers were initially called to the apartment complex because of a report of a broken window in this town about 25 miles southwest of Dallas, Midlothian police said.
The officers determined the window had been broken by a gunshot and went to the apartment where they believed the shots had been fired. There, police said the gunman, Richard Miles, 25, opened fire.
Trooper Rick Smith was shot as he responded to the report of three officers being wounded, said Lisa Block, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
Miles later fired as officers tried to get a phone into the apartment so they could communicate with him. Officers don't know the motive for the shootings, Block said.
B.J. McClelland said she watched the scene unfold from her kitchen window.
"I saw them all fall down the stairs," she said of the officers.
McClelland said she saw Officer Cody McKinney warning ambulance workers as they tried to make their way to him. "Cody was telling them to get away and not come by the window," she said.
Midlothian police Sgt. Brian Woolery was in serious condition at Methodist Dallas Medical Center Hospital, spokeswoman Kathleen Beathard said. Officer Dustin Compton was in good condition and Smith and McKinney were in fair condition.
A woman who has lived across the street from Miles' parents for the past 12 years said he had been having trouble keeping a job.
"This surely is a shock," said Teresa Colvin, whose children grew up playing with Miles. "I knew he's been having some problems, but I didn't think it would go this far."
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Associated Press writer Linda Franklin in Dallas contributed to this report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060821/ap_on_re_us/officers_shot
Hundreds of people gathered around the two-story brick building, which was illuminated after nightfall by high powered lights, and bursts of gunfire punctuated the air throughout the evening.
Officers were initially called to the apartment complex because of a report of a broken window in this town about 25 miles southwest of Dallas, Midlothian police said.
The officers determined the window had been broken by a gunshot and went to the apartment where they believed the shots had been fired. There, police said the gunman, Richard Miles, 25, opened fire.
Trooper Rick Smith was shot as he responded to the report of three officers being wounded, said Lisa Block, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
Miles later fired as officers tried to get a phone into the apartment so they could communicate with him. Officers don't know the motive for the shootings, Block said.
B.J. McClelland said she watched the scene unfold from her kitchen window.
"I saw them all fall down the stairs," she said of the officers.
McClelland said she saw Officer Cody McKinney warning ambulance workers as they tried to make their way to him. "Cody was telling them to get away and not come by the window," she said.
Midlothian police Sgt. Brian Woolery was in serious condition at Methodist Dallas Medical Center Hospital, spokeswoman Kathleen Beathard said. Officer Dustin Compton was in good condition and Smith and McKinney were in fair condition.
A woman who has lived across the street from Miles' parents for the past 12 years said he had been having trouble keeping a job.
"This surely is a shock," said Teresa Colvin, whose children grew up playing with Miles. "I knew he's been having some problems, but I didn't think it would go this far."
___
Associated Press writer Linda Franklin in Dallas contributed to this report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060821/ap_on_re_us/officers_shot
