Gunman arrested after 3 police officers shot in hourslong Flower Mound standoff
An hourslong police standoff that left three officers injured in Flower Mound ended at 5:32 a.m. Thursday as FBI SWAT officers took a suspect into custody, according to a news release.
Police said 60-year-old Bryan Hucabee was reported to 911 as suicidal before he shot the three SWAT-trained officers Wednesday night when they were trying to enter his home for a welfare check. The incident occurred in the 2900 block of Termaine Drive in Flower Mound.
Flower Mound Police Chief Andy Kancel said in a news conference Thursday morning all three officers who were hit were released from the hospital and are OK.
One officer treated at the scene was shot in the chest but his ballistic body armor absorbed the impact. He was taken to a hospital afterward to be checked out as a precautionary measure. Another officer was transported to the hospital after a bullet hit his ballistic shield, shattering the glass. The third was hit by bullet fragments in the neck, face and shoulders.
Officers returned fire, but the suspect was not hit.
Police first responded around 7 p.m. to a call from the man’s wife saying he was suicidal. She left her home and went to a neighbor’s house to make the call, police said.
Kancel said Hucabee fired on police from inside the house about an hour later, initiating an approximately 10-hour standoff in which tear gas was used to try to “encourage the man to leave the residence” as more Flower Mound officers and Lewisville SWAT were called to the scene.
Police also used an armored vehicle to evacuate neighbors, since the incident involved gunfire, police said.
Police used drones to monitor the situation and at one point attempted to send a robotic unit into the house to find Hucabee and ascertain his condition, Kancel said. They did not know if he had been hit when officers returned fire or where exactly he was in the house, but the man fired on the robot as it neared the front door.
An FBI SWAT team later arrived to take control of the scene, firing tear gas into the home and breaching the residence, Kancel said.
At that point, Hucabee exited the home with his hands in the air and surrendered to FBI SWAT “without incident,” Kancel said.
Hucabee was treated for exposure to tear gas and then transported to the Flower Mound jail, Kancel said. He faces three counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and additional charges are pending.
Police were called to his residence in 2017 for a previous incident after which Hucabee handed over his guns and a detective spent months trying to direct the family to resources to help them with whatever problems they were having, police said.
The residents did not accept any help offered and the guns were returned in April 2019, police said.
Police said they do not know what prompted Wednesday’s incident.
Police have not released the names of the officers who were injured, but said the three officers have worked for the department between four and 14 years.
Kancel said he is proud of the way his officers reacted during the incident. “They responded with patience and professionalism and took care of each other in this situation.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text “Home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 8:45 AM.