Houston police have a man in custody after they said he hijacked an ambulance at gunpoint Friday with a patient and emergency medical technician inside.
Written content from Taisha Walker and Erica Ponder
Firefighters said their ambulance was along the South Loop near Beechnut around 3 a.m. and in the process of traveling to take a patient to the hospital when a car stopped in front of the ambulance. Firefighters said a man with a gun pointed it at the EMT who was driving, forced him out, and got inside the ambulance with the patient and a veteran EMT in the back. Police said the man had fired rounds from his gun but not toward anyone.
Police said the EMT driver was able to call for help, along with the EMT that was still inside the ambulance. They said the veteran EMT looked up and noticed that her partner was no longer behind the wheel. Chief Samuel Pena said the thief pointed a gun at a female firefighter several times but kept calm and deescalated the situation all while tending to the patient. He said at some point, the suspect even got on the ambulance’s radio and manipulated it.
Both firefighter EMTs called for help, allowing dispatch to track the stolen ambulance until police arrived and got the suspect out of the ambulance on the Southwest Freeway near 610.
“We immediately were following him. Our operation center and dispatch knew exactly what was going on and we were able to track the ambulance at all times,” Deputy Chief Isaac Garcia with the Houston Fire Department said. “It does appear that HPD was able to stop the member. He did appear to surrender peacefully, from what I’ve been told. He got out and one of the police officers took the ambulance off the freeway to where we see right now.”
Investigators said both firefighter EMTs and the patient are all fine but are still shaken up. The patient was transported to the hospital by another ambulance.
Chief Peña said his primary concern was the safety of his firefighters and he’s relieved the situation did not end tragically.
“This is not part of their jobs to be kidnapped, to be assaulted at gunpoint,” said Chief Peña. “But it definitely has become a risk of the job. I’m very thankful that everybody is okay but it’s not acceptable.”
The suspect, who visibly had trouble standing on his own, was transported to a hospital by ambulance. Read more from Click2Houston
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