Hotel guests react to officer-involved shooting that left one man dead
One man is dead after police say he showed up at a hotel and threatened an employee before confronting officers.
Crimes Against Persons Investigators spent nearly 12 hours at the Quality Inn and Suites in the 6000 block of Montana trying to figure out what happened.
The intersection of Geronimo Drive and Montana Avenue remained closed for much of the day.
An El Paso Police Department spokesman said the suspect showed up just after 5 a.m. and threatened a hotel employee.
When responding officers arrived on the scene, they ordered the man to put don’t his weapon.
When the man allegedly didn’t comply, he confronted officers. Three officers opened fire on the man, and killed him on the scene.
“I just heard bam bam bam bam bam,” one man staying at the hotel said. He and one other woman ABC-7 spoke with at the scene said they were supposed to be flying out of El Paso on Monday and their travel plans were changed due to the officer-involved shooting.
“I got a call about 5:15, my wake up call. ‘Ma’am, there’s a man outside your window with a gun. Don’t come out of your room,'” one woman from Tennessee said.
Police have not released the identity of the man at this time, only saying he is a 22-year-old Hispanic man.
El Paso Police’s Crimes Against Persons Unit and the Texas Rangers are conducting criminal investigations into the shooting and the police department’s shooting review team is doing an administrative investigation.
Police say that as with all officer-involved shootings, the results of the criminal investigations will be given to the District Attorney’s Office for review.
The officers have been placed on temporary administrative leave and will be assigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigations.
Police did not release the names of the officers involved but did say two of them are six-year veterans and the third is a one-year veteran with the police department.
All three are assigned to the Central Regional Command Center.
Stay with ABC-7 as more details develop.
