An Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck responding to a call near Prairieland Detention Center but was treated and released from the hospital, officials say.
ALVARADO, Texas — 10 people have been arrested after an Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck while responding to a suspicious person call near the Prairieland Detention Center, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Prairieland Detention Center is an ICE facility.
According to an affidavit, the group of around 10-12 people showed up wearing all black on July 4 and shot fireworks toward the detention center. The document reveals that one or two of the suspects involved broke off and graffitied cars and other property, including writing “ICE pig” on a Toyota Prius.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that the Alvarado Police Department was dispatched at approximately 10:56 p.m. to the 1200 block of Sunflower Lane.
The affidavit details two unarmed correctional officers attempting to talk to the vandals around 10:58 p.m. At that same time, the document says a man in a green mask could be seen signaling the suspects with a flashlight.
Around 10:59 p.m., an officer with the Alvarado Police Department arrived, and as he exited his patrol car, one of the suspects immediately shot at him, hitting him in the neck, the affidavit states. The document says that then, the man in the green mask also opened fire at the two correctional officers.
The record states that around 20-30 rounds were fired at the officers. According to the document, police later recovered several 5.56mm casings and AR-15 style rifles.
Shortly after the incident, a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office detective pulled over a red Hyundai van less than a mile away from the facility, driven by Bradford Morris, of Dallas. According to the affidavit, deputies detained Morris and found multiple AR-15 style rifles, a handheld radio and two Kevlar vests in the van.
The document states that Morris admitted to being at the Prairieland Detention Center. Morris also claimed that he met the other suspects involved online and helped transport them down to the facility to “make some noise,” the affidavit reads.
Around 11:10 p.m., the affidavit says, deputies found seven more suspects in black clothing, some with body armor, on foot 300 yards west of the shooting. The document says more guns, ammunition and 12 sets of body armor were found when searching the suspects’ cars.
The affidavit also says that one of the suspects had a “Faraday bag,” a device used to block phone signals to prevent law enforcement from tracking cell phone information.
On July 5, the Venus Police Department arrested another suspect just three miles from the detention center. That same day, the affidavit states that authorities searched Morris’ home in Dallas and recovered nine more guns and three body armor vests. The document also says that cell phone records revealed Morris’ home to be the staging location for the crime.
In a Monday evening news conference, local and federal officials called the shooting a coordinated attack on law enforcement and ICE.
“It was a planned ambush with an attempt to kill ICE correction officers….seemed designed to draw ICE personnel outside the facility, and it worked,” said Acting United States Attorney Nancy Larson.
The officer who had been shot in the neck was flown to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, treated, and released, officials say.
No employees at the detention center were harmed, officials said
Cameron Arnold, of Dallas; Savanna Batten, of Fort Worth; Nathan Bauman, of College Station; Zachary Evetts, of Waxahachie; Joy Gibson, of Dallas; Bradford Morris, of Dallas; Maricela Rueda, of Fort Worth; Seth Sikes, of Kennedale; Elizabeth Soot, of Fort Worth; and Ines Soto, of Fort Worth, all face six total criminal charges, including three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
“Violence and threats of violence will not deter our officers from fulfilling their duties,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas acting Field Office Director Josh Johnson.
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