Police arrest suspect in San Antonio police officer murder
Update:
The search is over for the man who gun down a San Antonio police detective Sunday morning. Investigators announced Monday evening that they arrested Otis Tyrone McKane.
As a memorial to the slain police detective continued to grow outside SAPD HQ- Monday evening, Police Chief William McManus announced they finally had in custody the man they believe killed Detective Benjamin Marconi.
"Relief a lot of relief everyone is relieved I don't think anyone slept last night," said Chief McManus.
The images of the alleged gunman and the car he drove off in were released shortly after the Sunday morning attack. Officials Identified the man as Otis Tyrone McKane.
SWAT teams stopped him on the east side of town while he was riding in a car with a woman and a child. FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Combs told FOX 7 that Specialist with the FBI played a role in tracking down McKane.
"So we had Quantico involved we had assets throughout the country working leads that were generated by San Antonio police that we ran down."
Officials say McKane lives in the south side of San Antonio and has a police record. A capital murder charge is expected but investigators have yet to determine a motive.
The ambushed took place near the south side of Police Headquarters. It happened as Marconi was sitting in his patrol car filling out a traffic ticket. investigators indicated dash cameras captured the attack and have provided critical information which is also not being released at this time.
"All lives matter even blue lives matter, every body matters here," said Ricky Cardenas.
Cardenas and his wife Sarah were among those Monday morning who brought items to the memorial for the fallen police detective. Martha zurita said a prayer with each flag she placed and every candle she lit.
"I surrendered to the Holy Spirit to give him comfort, his family comfort, for wisdom and discernment, for the entire community, to help guide, the shooter and for forgiveness," said Zurita.
Aaron Gonzales also brought a flag. He told me he has friends who wear the badge and drove from his home in round rock to show support.
"That's the thin blue line, that's good versus evil, the blue line is the law officers standing in-between, that they are what's there to protect us so when someone does attack an officer they are attacking the community," said Gonzalez.
Before the attack Sunday The last San Antonio police officer to be shot and killed while on duty happened in 2013.
A San Antonio police officer writing out a traffic ticket to a motorist was shot to death in his squad car Sunday outside police headquarters by another driver who pulled up from behind, authorities said.
San Antonio police Chief William McManus identified the officer as Detective Benjamin Marconi, 50, a 20-year veteran of the force.
McManus said the suspect had not been apprehended Sunday night. He said he doesn't believe the man has any relationship to the original motorist who was pulled over, and no motive has been identified.
"We consider this suspect to be extremely dangerous and a clear threat to law enforcement officers and the public," said McManus, who added that after the shooting officers had been instructed to not make traffic stops alone.
McManus said Marconi had pulled over a vehicle and while he was inside his squad car writing a ticket, a car pulled up behind him. The driver of that car got out, walked up to the officer's driver-side window and shot Marconi twice in the head, then walked back to his car and drove away.
Marconi was pronounced dead at a hospital.
McManus said investigators are looking into all leads and motives, including whether it could be related to an officer-involved shooting earlier Sunday in the city. In that incident, McManus said, police fatally shot a man who pointed a gun at officers outside an apartment following a seven-hour standoff.
"Hopefully, we'll solve this one real quick," McManus said.
The police department posted a photo of a man on its Facebook page Sunday evening, saying "he might have information on the murder" of Marconi. Police are asking for assistance in identifying the man, who is shown wearing a hat and walking in the photo.
Some streets downtown were blocked off with police tape as officials investigated the slaying.
The shooting came less than five months after a gunman killed five officers in Dallas who were working a protest about the fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. It was the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.
Ten days after the Dallas attack, a man wearing a ski mask and armed with two rifles and a pistol killed three officers near a gas station and convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And earlier this month, two Des Moines, Iowa-area police officers were fatally shot in separate ambush-style attacks while sitting in their patrol cars.
"It's always difficult, especially in this this day and age, where police are being targeted across the country," McManus said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the slaying a "horrific act of violence." Abbott said in a statement that "attacks against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated in Texas and must be met with swift justice."
San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor extended condolences to the family of the slain officer and the entire police force
Later Sunday a police sergeant in St. Louis was hospitalized in critical condition but was expected to survive after being shot in what the police chief calls an "ambush."
Police Chief Sam Dotson said the 46-year-old officer was shot twice in the face but is able to talk.
Dotson said the officer was not involved in a call or a traffic stop but was sitting in traffic when another car pulled up alongside his marked police vehicle. The officer told police he heard at least two shots.
The suspect got away. Police were using helicopters, SWAT teams and other resources in the search for the suspect.
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