The Texas Municipal Police Association said the Alvarado Police officer wounded faces “a long road” ahead.
ALVARADO, Texas — New videos obtained by WFAA show the frantic police response after an Alvarado Police officer was shot in the neck in an attack prosecutors describe as a coordinated ambush outside an ICE detention center on the Fourth of July.
The videos, taken from a neighbor who heard the gunshots, show officers searching for suspects and arresting at least one person outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Johnson County around 11 p.m.
“It was serious because everybody showed up and they were running around everywhere,” said the neighbor who took the video, who asked not to be identified because she had concerns for her safety. “They all had their guns out, they all had their flashlights out, they were looking everywhere.”
Authorities arrested nearly a dozen people and have charged 10 with attempting to murder federal agents, terrorism and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.
The 11th suspect is also expected to be charged, but documents related to that case are still under seal.
The available federal complaint alleges the suspects — almost all of whom are from North Texas — lured the Alvarado officer to the ambush by shooting fireworks toward the detention center and vandalizing cars in the parking lot.
Within seconds of the unnamed officer’s arrival, the federal complaint said he was shot in the neck, and the gunman then fired 20-30 rounds at two correctional officers who were also outside the building.
“It is a planned, coordinated, guerrilla-warfare style attack, and it’s terrorism as far as I’m concerned,” said Clint McNear with the Texas Municipal Police Association.
The federal criminal complaint said the suspects carried body armor, radios and extra magazines.
Subsequent searches of their cars and homes found balaclava masks, more guns and “anti-government propaganda,” the document revealed.
The officer who was shot was discharged from the hospital, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said on social media. While his injuries were “non-life threatening,” McNear of the TMPA said he was on a “long road to recovery.”
The detention facility was guarded by additional Homeland Security agents on Tuesday. The officers had a set checkpoint before the parking lot entrance with a large armored vehicle facing the road.
“We’ve never had anything like that happen here,” said the woman who took the video of the aftermath of the shooting. “I hope it doesn’t happen again.”
The Alvarado City Council is set to meet behind closed doors to discuss the incident on Thursday. The mayor said the local police chief will provide an update to Council members at that time.
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