Austin police traded gunfire with the subject of a search warrant during an early-morning raid at the man’s Southeast Austin home on Monday, Oct. 22, sending the suspect and one officer to the hospital with gunshot injuries. Police were attempting to execute a drug-related search warrant at the home of 72-year-old Felix Rosales at 6102 Club Terrace when Rosales fired at the officers, striking 14-year veteran Detective Robert Benfer in the foot; as other members of the raiding party pulled Benfer from the house, 12-year veteran Detective Aaron Bishop fired back, striking Rosales in the chest. According to police, the narco officers arrived at the house slightly after 6am and “knocked and announced their intent to serve” the warrant. When no one came to the door, the officers forced entry. Once inside, police say, the search party was “met with gunfire.” The SWAT team was called in to try to negotiate with Rosales, and after about an hour, police again entered the house, where they found the injured 72-year-old. Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters the officers were wearing clothing that clearly identified them as police and that upon entering the home they “made contact with the suspect” and “demanded he put his weapon down.” In all, he said, the officers delivered a “very measured response.”
At press time, most of the details of the incident were still unknown – including how much time elapsed between the officers knocking on the door and when they entered the house, how much time then elapsed before Rosales fired at the officers. A warrant filed Oct. 22 by homicide detectives tasked with investigating the shooting, asserts that the original search warrant was based on information from a “concerned citizen” who told police that an “eldery Hispanic male” was selling crack out of the Rosales home. The warrant also says that police made two trash runs at the house earlier this month and found plastic bags with a white residue that tested positive for cocaine. Still, detectives did not report finding any drugs in the house after executing the second warrant, although they did seize 15 firearms. Nonetheless, police have charged Rosales with attempted capital murder – presuming that Rosales intended to kill a police officer. Benfer was taken to Brackenridge Hospital, where he was treated and released; Rosales is still in the hospital, where he underwent surgery Monday. Bishop has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident, standard procedure in all officer-involved shootings.
This article appears in Richard Suttle.