By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Two parochial schools in south Del Rio were placed on lockdown, and the Val Verde County Courthouse was closed late this morning as city, county, state and federal law enforcement officers combed the area for “an armed and dangerous man,” officials said.
Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. told The 830 Times a sheriff’s office deputy notified him shortly after 10 a.m. today that law enforcement agencies were seeking “somebody they considered to be armed and dangerous” in the San Felipe area south of the courthouse.
Owens said he ordered all of the offices located on courthouse square, including those in the main courthouse, the AliceMae Fitzpatrick Annex, the county attorney’s office and an adjacent building, closed. The county judge said staff in those offices were instructed to go home for the day and return to work Thursday morning.
Owens also confirmed that St. James Episcopal School and Sacred Heart Academy, both located in south Del Rio, were placed on lockdown.
The courthouse grounds were still being patrolled by sheriff’s office deputies and several county constables around noon.
A heavy law enforcement presence was seen in other areas of south Del Rio, particularly in the San Felipe neighborhood south of the county courthouse, with sheriff’s office trucks and Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles patrolling the streets and Border Patrol vehicles parked in Rincon Del Diablo, a city park along San Felipe Creek near the intersection of Magnolia and Barron streets.
Del Rio Police Department vehicles and personnel were stationed in the parking lot outside the former Meme’s Kleen Kitchen near the H-E-B grocery store on Pecan Street.
Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said the situation stemmed from an incident involving the Del Rio Police Department.
The 830 Times has contacted the city’s public information staff and requested further information on the situation from the Del Rio Police Department. More information will be published as it becomes available.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
