U.S. Marshal-led effort to arrest Dallas murder suspect leads to hourslong standoff
A man who fired on law enforcement officers who were trying to arrest him on murder charges in Dallas, leading to an eight and a half hour standoff Wednesday, was taken into custody with no injuries, according to a news release.
Dallas police said a U.S. Marshal’s Task Force, made up of multiple law enforcement agencies, went around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to the home of 28-year-old Julio Guerrero, who police suspect in the May 10 shooting of a 3-year-old and the May 2 killing of Francisco Villanueva Rodriguez, 35.
Guerrero was kneeling behind a bush at a home at the 4500 block of Humphrey Drive in Dallas when officers arrived to arrest him, according to the release. When he emerged from the bushes he opened fire on police, it said. No officers were injured.
A Dallas police officer and sheriff’s deputy returned fire as Guerrero moved into the residence but did not hit him, according to the release.
Law enforcement surrounded the residence as Guerrero barricaded himself inside, police said. They learned of five small children inside the residence and were able to get them out as they attempted to negotiate an end to the standoff.
Several attempts to negotiate Guerrero’s surrender didn’t work, though, and Dallas SWAT officers began firing tear gas into the home.
The tear gas did not force Guerrero outside the residence and Dallas SWAT continued trying to negotiate his surrender, according to the release. They were able to engage him in a conversation just before 7 p.m. and he surrendered peacefully around 7:05 p.m.
Guerrero is suspected in the shooting of the 3-year-old child May 10 in the 3900 block of Linfield Road, and the shooting death of Rodriguez on May 2 at Tiger Cabaret at 9135 E. R.L. Thornton Freeway. He also had three outstanding warrants on charges of aggravated assault.
Guerrero is being held at the Dallas County Jail. He will also face charges of aggravated assault on a public servant for the shots he fired at law enforcement, police said.
This comes one week after police in Flower Mound were involved in a nearly 10-hour standoff with a man who fired on officers.
Police in that incident were responding to a call about a man who was armed and suicidal.