Houston police shooter had a prior warrant out against him, prior convictions

(HOUSTON) — The man charged with shooting three Houston police officers on Thursday had a warrant issued for him in connection with a December robbery, according to court records.

In December, Roland Caballero, 31, had an open warrant issued for an unlawful carrying a weapon charge and an aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon charge, court records show. The warrant was in connection to a Dec. 28 robbery at an auto shop in Katy, the records indicate.

Caballero is now charged with three counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer and one count of aggravated robbery, Houston police said in a news release.

Caballero was already under investigation when a witness told police prior to the shooting that the suspect was producing gun components called switches that turn semi-automatic pistols into fully automatic ones, according to KTRK.

Houston Police Officers on Thursday responded to a threat-to-life call and were provided his name and vehicle he was driving. When they located the vehicle, the officers attempted a traffic stop, which is when the suspect fled in the vehicle and crashed it, police said in a news release.

The officers then pulled up behind the suspect to conduct a felony traffic stop, which is when the suspect got out of the vehicle and fired several shots at the officers, who returned fire and possibly struck the suspect in the neck area, police said.

Three officers were struck by the suspect’s gunfire, while the suspect fled on foot, police said. He then carjacked a female citizen nearby and fled in her vehicle, police said.

According to KTRK, the suspect used two guns with homemade parts in the Thursday shootout, which were later retrieved by police. One of the modified guns was found in the car Caballero was driving and a second gun was found as he was running away from the scene, police said.

Other officers then went to the suspect’s residence and observed the stolen vehicle parked outside. SWAT team officers made the scene and attempted to make contact with the suspect but Caballero ignored them and barricaded himself inside the residence, according to police.

Police said the suspect then fired shots at SWAT officers while they were on the scene, and officers returned fire. The suspect surrendered himself to officers hours late, police said.

The suspect remains hospitalized after suffering a gunshot wound to the neck, Police Chief Troy Finner said in a media briefing on Thursday.

The three officers who were wounded were transferred to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and are in stable condition. Officers N. Gadson and D. Hayden were released from the hospital and Officer A. Alvarez remains in hospital in stable condition, according to Houston Police.

They will all make a full recovery, Finner said.

At the time of the offense Caballero was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a previous felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance from October of 2017, records show.

He was also previously convicted of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in January 2010 and felony possession of a firearm in June 2014, records show.

A representative for Houston Police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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