A Texas police officer is recovering after a robbery suspect allegedly shot her in the face during a high-speed chase early Saturday. The suspect died following a shoot-out with police, reported NBC Houston affiliate KPRC.
Crystal Sepulveda, a 29-year-old Missouri City police officer who has been with the force for three years, was allegedly shot by the suspect in the face and foot after she and other officers saw a stolen car at a Houston gas station early Saturday morning, leading to a high-speed chase with the suspect, according to KPRC and a Saturday press conference hosted by the Houston Police.
The suspect — who police said was armed with “two automatic guns with extended magazines,” according to KPRC — crashed the car in front of a home about four miles away and ran towards the backyard before he allegedly fired at the officers and struck Sepulveda.
Police transported Sepulveda to Memorial Hermann Medical Center in Houston, where she was in stable condition on Saturday, according to the Houston Police.
The suspect fled the scene on foot before officers found him in a backyard of a home a block away, where he allegedly "attempted to engage with officers," according to KPRC.
Two Houston Police Department officers, a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputy, and a Texas Department of Public Safety officer reportedly fired at the suspect, and each agency will conduct their own independent investigation into the incident, KPRC reported.
The Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office will also conduct an independent investigation into the incident, police said at the press conference Saturday.
The suspect was transported to a local hospital where he later died, KPRC reported. The unnamed suspect was between 25 - 30 years old, police said at the press conference.
A fundraiser for Sepulveda, established by the Missouri City Police Officers Association - Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #594, has already raised $11,000 as of press time.