A Jefferson County Sheriff’s Officer deputy is recovering following surgery early this morning (May 29) after he was shot during an hours-long shootout in the Cedar Hill area, authorities reported.
The deputy, who is a member of the department’s SWAT team, was shot at about 10:45 p.m. Friday (May 28) when a man opened fire on the team members and detectives who were serving a search warrant at a house in the 8000 block of Lake Drive south of Cedar Hill, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The man, who shot at the officers from inside the home, was killed just before midnight, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said.
The Sheriff’s Office has not identified the man who was killed nor the deputy who was shot, and the investigation is ongoing.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said the officer is a “seasoned officer” and was struck below his tactical vest.
“He is a SWAT officer, well trained,” Marshak said in a video on the department’s Facebook page. “He is a great officer. If anyone can pull through, I think he is going to be fine.”
The search warrant the authorities were serving was related to an investigation involving a missing person and possible homicide, Marshak said in the video.
He said the man who died was known to law enforcement and had previous encounters with law enforcement.
The sheriff said authorities were at the home gathering information before the suspect was aware of their presence. Bissell said SWAT team members and detectives announced they were outside the home between about 9-9:30 p.m. He said after the man in the home was aware of their presence, he started to shoot at the deputies.
The deputy was shot about an hour into the exchange of gunfire, and the situation continued until the suspect was shot and killed, the Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement.
“The suspect was actively trying to kill police officers this evening,” Marshak said in the Facebook video. “He even shot at our armored vehicles.”
Marshak said in the video that he didn’t know how many other deputies were involved in the incident, and he didn’t know if anyone else was in the home when gunfire was exchanged.