Standoff ends in tragedy

After a tense situation on the far North end of Liberty County ended with Sgt. Robert Johnson from the Harris County Pct. 1 Constable’s Office committing suicide in his vehicle at the Trinity River Bridge on 787.

At 8:00 a.m. this morning a call was made to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office from Pct. 1 in Harris County advising that a third party had called them and advised that one of their personnel was threatening suicide.

The man had been held up in his personal vehicle since around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, after he was initially pulled over in a traffic stop, in which he took off from and nearly had a collision on the bridge with a large truck, but law enforcement officials who were in pursuit caught up to the man.

Law Enforcement officials from the area, including a Chaplain with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department, tried speaking to the man, as well as negotiators from multiple law enforcement agencies who were trying to deescalate the situation.

“Unfortunately, he turned the gun on himself,” Kevin Quinn, Director of Communications for Harris County Pct. 1 Constable’s Office continued, “They spent hours of negotiations for his peaceful surrender.”

According to Liberty County Public Information Officer, Capt. Ken DeFoor said that Johnson was currently under investigation for an unspecified incident.

During the incident through traffic was diverted for a number of hours.