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‘It’s time for this to stop’ | SWAT officers thwart armored car robbery, suspect shot in SW Houston

“It’s time for this to stop, it’s enough!” HPD Executive Asst. Chief Matt Slinkard said in a press conference Friday afternoon.

HOUSTON — Houston police SWAT officers thwarted an armored car robbery wounding one suspect and arresting two others in southwest Houston.

This happened just before noon in the 16100 block of South Post Oak Road near Court Road.

HPD Executive Asst. Chief Matt Slinkard says they have increased police presence in the area due to recent armored car robberies including having SWAT officers work undercover inside some of the trucks being targeted.

On Friday morning, SWAT officers in a marked patrol unit say they witnessed three suspects in a stolen white F-250 pickup truck put masks on in preparation for an armored car robbery near a strip center that contains a La Michoacana Meat Market and Walgreens along South Post Oak.

However, since the driver of the armored truck never exited the vehicle, the suspects backed off realizing the robbery would not be successful, police said.

The suspects then drove behind the strip and were followed by the SWAT officer in the marked patrol unit, police say. The officers attempted a pit maneuver on the stolen truck to stop the vehicle but were unsuccessful.

Two of the suspects exited the truck and were apprehended after running towards the front of the strip center, police said.

Police say a third suspect exited the passenger side of the stolen truck brandishing an AR-15 rifle and exchanged gunfire with SWAT officers. The suspect was wounded in the exchange.

Police began applying first aid to the suspect before he was airlifted by Life Flight in critical condition to a local hospital.

The three suspects have not been identified at this time.

No other injuries were reported.

“It’s time for this to stop, it’s enough!” Slinkard said in a press conference Friday afternoon. “These armored car robberies are going to stop, HPD was on top of this one today.”

Slinkard says HPD has increased surveillance in the area recently.

“We actually had our own officers in that armored car truck that was about to be robbed,” Slinkard said. “So to all those out there that might think that you’re going to commit hijackings, and hold these armored car drivers at gunpoint, and commit murder, and hurt these people who are trying to make a living, you don’t know, it could be HPD SWAT in that truck.”

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