Police went to the Dunkin' Donuts in the 600 block of Southmore around 5 p.m. to arrest William Neal Terral Jr. The 53-year-old suspect was wanted for three counts of sexual assault of a child, three counts of indecency with a child and two counts of sexual performance with a child, according to police. The charges are out of Crockett, Texas and the victims were 9, 10 and 11 years old, confirmed the Houston County Sheriff’s Department in East Texas.
U.S. Marshals had been searching for Terral. After receiving a tip that Terral was at the donut shop, Pasadena Officer Josh Ridings moved in.
"He had been inside just a few seconds when gunfire erupted and it was between the suspect and the officer," Assistant Chief Bud Corbett said. "The officer was hit at least twice -- once in the chest, once in the arm." The wounded officer fired back several times, but missed.
Ridings apparently fired at least one shot before he stumbled outside and collapsed.
Another officer grabbed his rifle and fired three shots through the window of the donut shop.
Terral died from a gunshot wound to the head. Surveillance cameras showed that he shot himself.
"You see him actually raise the gun with his right hand, point it at his head and instantly fall to the floor," said an investigator. "Almost immediately after that you can see what appears to be glass shattering, which was presumably the gunfire from the officer who was firing with a rifle from outside in the parking lot," said Corbett.
Ridings, a 25-year-old who had been on the force for about a year, was flown by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he's expected to be OK.
