Suspect Arrested for Killing Texas Police Detective

A suspect has been arrested in the fatal weekend shooting of a San Antonio police detective.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Monday evening that 31-year-old Otis Tyrone McCain was arrested without incident in the Sunday night killing of Detective Benjamin Marconi. He was arrested around 4:30 p.m. Monday after the car he was driving was stopped on Interstate 10.

McManus had said previously that dashcam video from Marconi's patrol vehicle provided "a lot of information" for investigators about his death.

The driver pulled up from behind the officer before killing him, authorities said. Police on Monday released video showing the suspect and said he is believed to be driving a black Mitsubishi Galant. 

"We consider this suspect to be extremely dangerous both to the police and to the public," San Antonio police Chief William McManus said at a news conference, adding that he thinks "the uniform was the target."

McManus said that Marconi had pulled over a vehicle and while he was inside his squad car writing a ticket, a vehicle pulled up behind him. He said the driver of that vehicle got out, walked up to the officer's driver-side window and shot the officer in the head. The man fired a second time, then walked back to his vehicle and drove away, McManus said.

Marconi, a 20-year veteran of the force, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“Our prayers go out to the family of Detective Benjamin Marconi, who was shot and killed today during a routine traffic stop outside of the San Antonio police headquarters," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement. "To the San Antonio Police Department and law enforcement officers all across the State of Texas, our message is clear: we stand unequivocally with you, and we will not tolerate those who viciously and deliberately target law enforcement."

In St. Louis, another officer was shot in the face but is expected to survive. 

The St. Louis police sergeant was hospitalized in critical condition after he was shot twice as he sat in traffic in a marked police vehicle about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. 

"This officer was driving down the road and was ambushed by an individual who pointed a gun at him from inside of his car and shot out the police officer's window," Police Chief Sam Dotson said during a news conference. 

Dotson declined to name the 46-year-old officer, but said he is a married father of three who has been with the department for about 20 years. 

"Fortunately, for the blessing of God, the officer's going to survive," Dotson said. 

Police reported early Monday that the suspect, who was wanted for other violent crimes, was later killed in a shootout with police. 

At least two other police officers were also shot in other cities Sunday night, but it wasn't clear whether the incidents were targeted attacks.

The shootings 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, when police are being targeted across the country," McManus said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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