Mugshot/Facebook Roland Caballero
Roland Caballero is the felon accused of shooting three Houston, Texas, police officers. Videos captured the heavy gunfire at the scene.
Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, said in a news conference that “we are certainly praying for our police officers who were shot today.” One was shot in the foot, one in the leg, and one in the arm. All of the injuries are non life-threatening. They are all in the hospital “with gunshot wounds.”
“All three officers are in good spirits. All were talkative,” the mayor said, adding that city officials thanked them for their service. The mayor said he was thankful that the officers’ injuries were not worse.
Caballero has a lengthy criminal history, which you can read later in this story.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Videos Captured the Heavy Gunfire
Videos circulating on Facebook captured heavy gunfire as the officers were at the scene.
A second video also captured gunfire as the officers were stopped in the middle of the road.
“SUSPECT OPENS FIRE ON POLICE HERE IN HARRIS COUNTY!!! 3 HPD Officers are reported shot in this shoot out! Here is the dramatic video with sound where the suspect opened fire on these Officers!!!” wrote Harris County, Texas, Constable Mark Herman, on Facebook, sharing one of the videos. “Currently Harris County leads the nation in murders! Please pray for these 3 HPD Officers and their families!”
A third video also emerged that showed a carjacking that police said involved the same suspect.
2. The Suspect Led Police on a Chase, Carjacked a Car & Opened Fire at Multiple Officers, Police Said
Houston’s police Chief Troy Finner said that at 2:42 p.m., officers responded to a residence in Houston. The suspect spotted the officers, took off in a vehicle, and officers pursued the suspect.
The suspect then crashed his car. He immediately fired a gun at officers, Finner said, when they got out of the vehicle, striking three officers. The officers returned fire, and it’s unknown whether the suspect was hit.
He then carjacked, at gunpoint, a white Mercedes Benz. Other officers pursued him to another home and surrounded it. The suspect fired multiple times. “Thank God he didn’t strike any of the officers” at that scene, Finner said. He was barricaded in the home, and it wasn’t clear whether he was injured.
The chief said officers described the suspect’s firearm as a fully automatic weapon.
3. Caballero Has Previous Convictions Dating Back to 2008
MugshotRoland Caballero
Caballero has previous convictions dating back to 2008, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records. Caballero, then 18, was arrested by the Katy Independent School District Police Department in December 2008 and charged with misdemeanor deadly conduct. He was sentenced to five days in jail after he was convicted in 2009.
In 2013, Caballero was arrested by the Houston Police Department on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, a third-degree felony. He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to five years in prison. He was also convicted at the same time of second-degree felony possession of a controlled substance, according to Texas DPS records.
Caballero was arrested in 2017 by the Houston Police Department and convicted that same year of state jail felony possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to a year in jail, DPS records show. In 2019, he was convicted in Montgomery County of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 90 days in jail.
According to Harris County court records, Caballero was born August 2, 1990, in Texas and lives on Anzac Street in Houston. He is a U.S. citizen.
Caballero was already wanted on two charges, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful carry of a weapon with a felony conviction, after he was indicted in that case on January 6, 2022, court records show.
According to the criminal complaint filed in that case, a Katy Police officer was dispatched to a man with a gun at an auto repair shop on December 28, 2021. The officer said as he went to the scene, the complainants reported the suspect had left the scene in a truck. The victims told police Caballero and another man had stolen auto scanners from the shop, according to the complaint. Caballero is accused of pointing a gun at an employee while stealing the scanners. Officers reviewed security footage and charges were filed against Caballero.
According to Harris County court records, Caballero was born August 2, 1990, in Texas and lives on Anzac Street in Houston. He is a U.S. citizen.
Caballero was already wanted on two charges, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful carry of a weapon with a felony conviction, after he was indicted in that case on January 6, 2022, court records show.
According to the criminal complaint filed in that case, a Katy Police officer was dispatched to a man with a gun at an auto repair shop on December 28, 2021. The officer said as he went to the scene, the complainants reported the suspect had left the scene in a truck. The victims told police Caballero and another man had stolen auto scanners from the shop, according to the complaint. Caballero is accused of pointing a gun at an employee while stealing the scanners. Officers reviewed security footage and charges were filed against Caballero.
4. Caballero Was Recently Accused of Threatening to Shoot an Auto Store Employee Because His Food Truck Wasn’t Fixed Fast Enough
Roland Caballero, suspect in shooting of 3 @houstonpolice officers, recently charged with aggravated robbery in Katy. And that’s not all.
t.co/FWeTcjOI0r
KHOU-TV reviewed court documents that showed that, in one past incident, Caballero “was caught stealing several expensive items from West Point Auto Collision on Glenwood.”
He took three vehicle scanners and had been a past customer of the auto shop, according to the television station, which said that, when Caballero was confronted by an employee, he “threw one of the scanners at him, pulled out a gun and threatened to start shooting.”
According to the television station, the auto shop owner said Caballero was angry because his “food truck hadn’t been repaired yet.”
According to ABC 13, just days before the three officers were shot, Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Corporal Charles Galloway was shot and killed “in an ambush attack while conducting a traffic stop.”
5. Scanner Audio Captured the Incident
Scanner audio captured the incident.
The mayor praised police officers during the press conference.
“This has been a tough week,” the mayor said in the press conference.
He said the shooting of the three officers indicates that being a police officer is an “inherently dangerous job.” Every single day when police officers leave their homes, not knowing what they will encounter, they face danger. Turner said he was “proud of every single law enforcement officer that serves our city.”
Turner said “we are living in inherently dangerous times,” saying there are “a lot of guns on the street.” He asked people to pray for the officers.
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