A Fredericksburg police officer was wounded after being shot during a traffic stop early Saturday that turned into a high-speed chase that ended in San Antonio.
The suspect in the shooting, San Angelo resident Robert Rendon, 31, is facing multiple counts of attempted capital murder in the incident in which he fired at several law enforcement officers from various agencies while still driving, San Antonio and Fredericksburg police said.
The wounded officer was in stable condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center after being shot in the neck and lower abdomen. Fredericksburg police identified him as Bradley Durst, who has worked at the Fredericksburg Police Department for two and half years.
The incident began at 1:42 a.m. when Durst pulled Rendon over in the 1600 block of East Main Street in Fredericksburg in a stop police described as routine. As the officer approached, Rendon leaned outside of the vehicle window and fired multiple shots from a handgun, police said.
Durst was able to radio for assistance at 1:44 a.m. and a Gillespie County deputy responded. The deputy placed Durst into his vehicle and drove him to Hill Country Memorial Hospital Emergency Room. He was later moved to the San Antonio hospital where he underwent surgery, police said.
Rendon fled the scene and was not spotted until 3 a.m. Comal County sheriff's deputies located his vehicle on U.S. Highway 281 headed toward San Antonio and began a pursuit, police said.
Rendon fired upon the deputies and then San Antonio police officers as he drove into the city and onto Interstate 10, where a police helicopter joined the pursuit, police said.
At one point, a San Antonio police officer fired at Rendon's vehicle striking it several times, but did not hit Rendon, San Antonio police said.
Rendon lost control of his vehicle near I-10 and Ackerman Road, leaving the road and rolling the car over. Police took him into custody with non-life threatening injuries sustained in the crash, police said.
Police later found an assault rifle with two high-capacity magazines and a handgun in the vehicle, San Antonio police said.
Copyright 2014 - Austin American-Statesman
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
