Liberty County Deputies Shot, Suspect Dead

DAYTON, Texas - A 5-hour standoff in Liberty County ended after the suspect was killed and two deputies hurt before dawn Tuesday morning.

"I heard rapid gunfire. 3 magazines like bang, bang, bang." says Carol Potts who had woken up early to take her dog out.

Liberty county deputies Rex Evans and Jeremy Marcantale were responding to a call of shots fired at 5 a.m. at a mobile home near West Woodlands Hills Drive in Dayton.

"When deputies arrived, they started taking on fire, returned fire. Two deputies were hit." describes Liberty PD officer Hugh Bishop.

Right across the street from the drama lives Jesse Richardson. He heard a number of shots, and through the darkness and fog, saw some of what happened.

"I seen the police officers retreating, returning fire. I seen a couple shots come back from his way it looked like. I heard them call over the radio, officer down."

While Baytown's SWAT team moved in, along with Liberty Co. Sheriff's Dept, Liberty PD and DPS troopers, hours passed before authorities found the suspect's dead body in the yard.

Investigators have not revealed whether the suspect killed himself, died from an earlier gunshot wound from a shootout with deputies or was shot by the Baytown Special Weapons and Tactics team.

One of the deputies injured during the shootout was treated and released from Memorial Hermann Hospital, while the other remained at that hospital.

Foggy weather conditions have prevented Life Flight medical helicopter from flying to the site of the shooting. The injured deputies were taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital.