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Hourslong standoff continues at Texas home where 3 officers shot, 3 people held hostage

A nearly 18-hour-long standoff continued early Monday at a suburban Texas neighborhood where three responding officers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire. A suspect remains inside a home, holding three family members hostage.

As of 4:30 a.m. local time, Cedar Park Police directed residents on Natalie Cove in the Heritage Park subdivision to stay inside.

“It’s still unsafe to leave as we are working an active scene involving a suspect barricaded inside his home,” the tweet said. “Please do not leave until we say it is safe to do so.”

3 POLICE OFFICERS SHOT IN CEDAR PARK, TEXAS, SUSPECT BARRICADED INSIDE HOME

Police first responded to a home on Natalie Cove in Cedar Park, 25 miles north of Austin, around 3 p.m. Sunday, after a woman called to report her son, in his 20s, had kicked down a door and was acting aggressively. Officers entered the home and were met with gunfire.

Officers fired back and struck the suspect, interim Cedar Park Police Chief Mike Harmon said. Three officers were injured and retreated back outside. The suspect then barricaded himself inside the home with his mother, a minor under 18, and a third relative.

Several law enforcement agencies responded to the shooting at a home on Natalie Cove in the Heritage Park subdivision in Cedar Park, Texas.

“We want to end this peacefully. That is our main goal,” Harmon said at a press conference at a nearby intersection around 9 p.m. local time Sunday, before addressing the gunman. “Please, if you’re listening to this, please come out and surrender yourself peacefully so we can resolve this situation tonight.”

Harmon said law enforcement has been in touch with the suspect’s relatives, who said he has been dealing with “some mental health issues.” Neither the gunman nor the three family members inside the home have been publicly named by authorities.

The three Cedar Park police officers wounded in the incident were taken to area hospitals where they remained in stable condition as of Sunday night. They sustained injuries believed to be non-life-threatening. One suffered a gunshot wound in the arm, a second was shot in the chest, but was protected by a bullet-proof vest, and a bullet grazed the head of the third officer, Fox 7 Austin reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, SWAT, Round Rock police, Leander police, and the Williamson County sheriff’s office responded to the active-shooter situation, The Statesman reported. Emergency vehicles lined the streets at Heritage Park Drive and Bagdad Road Sunday afternoon as law enforcement helicopters also circled overhead.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued a statement Sunday thanking law enforcement for their sacrifice and asking Texans to join him in prayer for the three officers injured in the line of duty.

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“Our hearts are with the police officers who were injured while protecting the Cedar Park community this afternoon. We must never take for granted the service and sacrifice of our law enforcement officers, and the State of Texas stands ready to provide the support and resources needed to bring justice to those involved,” Abbott said. “I ask that all Texans join Cecilia and me in prayer for these officers, and for the safety of all law enforcement officers across the state.”

Fox News’ Nick Givas contributed to this report.

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