El Paso Police Officer Shot At In Downtown Hotel

El Paso, Texas police have said a man has been taken into custody after allegedly firing shots at a police officer Thursday afternoon. The officer was reportedly shot at while responding to a disturbance call at a hotel in downtown El Paso.

According to KDBC, the suspect allegedly fired shots at the officer on the third floor of the De Soto Hotel at 209 East Mills on Thursday afternoon. Officers arrived at the hotel after receiving a disturbance call around 1:10 pm. When the officer knocked on the door of one of the third floor rooms, the suspect opened up and then allegedly opened fire on the officer.

“Everything was great, just a normal day and then from there on, everybody just kind of switches to a different mode. It’s kind of scary,” said Frank Montes, the owner of The Network Bar & Grill.

The officer reportedly was able to take cover as a second shot was fired, and avoided any injuries. The El Paso Times reported that after firing the two shots at the police officer, the man, only being identified as a black male, locked himself in his room and the EL Paso SWAT team had to be called to the scene to assist police.

Witnesses said that several buildings had to be placed under lockdown due to the incident. Some were a little shocked when they heard shots ring out. Ralph Stich had been buying tickets at the Plaza during the time of the shooting.

“You just hear shots, I knew they were gunshots, and then all the sudden there were a couple parking police nearby, and their cars lit up, and all the sirens started and they took off. Of course with all these tall buildings out here, things echo a lot so you didn’t really know where it was coming from.”

Mary Cruz De Leon told KFOXTV, “I was just sitting there and then just started seeing the police show up and then they started closing off the streets. They asked us to close down the building and walk to the back of the café.”

“We were even locked down in the building. We couldn’t leave the building it was locked. No elevators were working, so we were stuck,” said Kimberly Vanecek, who works in the Wells Fargo building.

El Paso police say that the unidentified man struggled with police after leaving his hotel room, though police were finally able to subdue him and take him into custody. He was then taken to University medical Center to be evaluated for any injuries. Police say that he could face criminal attempted capital murder charges.