A Blue Alert has been canceled after the Harris County Sheriff's Office posted on social media that the suspect has been captured.
Authorities in the Houston area issued a Blue Alert in the search for a man suspected of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy in an apparent ambush after pistol-whipping a pizzeria clerk, authorities said Thursday.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office tweeted Thursday afternoon they were looking for Ronnie Palmer in connection with the aggravated assault at a pizza restaurant and the capital murder of sheriff's deputy Fernando Esqueda.
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Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Esqueda, 28, was killed in a shooting late Wednesday. Gonzalez later tweeted about Palmer, saying they would not give up in their search to find him.
"There is an active search for Palmer. Please call us now: do not aid or assist him, or YOU can face serious consequences for doing so. We want a safe resolution. We are relentless and will not give up!" Gonzalez tweeted.
Texas News
News from around the state of Texas.
Chief Deputy Mike Lee said at a news conference that deputies responded to a report of an assault on a clerk at a Little Caesars Pizza in the Houston area just after 10 p.m. A customer who came in to pick up a pizza he ordered got upset because the order was incorrect and pistol-whipped the clerk and fled, Lee said.
The clerk described the customer's vehicle and its license plate number, which was traced to a location where deputies began searching for the car, Lee said.
The deputy notified others that he had found the vehicle and was communicating with another deputy when he was ambushed, Lee said. When others arrived, they found Esquela shot multiple times and rushed him to the hospital, where he died.
Authorities said they believe they have a good idea who the suspect is and SWAT teams have been set up at two locations, Lee said, expressing confidence that he’ll be taken into custody in a “timely manner.”
“If the suspect happens to see this, he needs to do the right thing and turn himself in,” Lee said.
Lee said Esquela was “very well thought of” as a member of an elite task force focused on violent people and had been with the sheriff’s office for about five years.
“We pray with Deputy Esqueda’s family, friends, and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time,” Gonzalez said. “None of us are ever prepared for such an untimely death and our members need your prayers and support.”
The deputy had been working 12-hour shifts along with all other sheriff’s department staff to provide security and prevent looting after Hurricane Beryl, according to Lee, the chief deputy.
TEXAS STATEWIDE ALERT PROGRAMS
Eight kinds of alerts can be issued for missing or endangered people in Texas. Below are links to articles with more information about each type of alert.
- Active Shooter Alert
- AMBER Alert & Athena Alert
- Blue Alert
- Silver Alert
- CLEAR Alert
- Camo Alert (no longer operational)
- Endangered Missing Person Alert
- Power Outage Alert
