CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A standoff at S. Perez Street and County Road 704 in Mathis ended after the suspect killed himself Tuesday afternoon.
The armed, 'wanted felon' barricaded himself in the house of an 80-year-old man in Mathis at 7:04 a.m. after being pursued by Mathis police for several hours, said Mathis Police Chief Scott Roush and San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera.
Roush said his officers began chasing the suspect at around 2 a.m., when he reportedly broke into a home outside of Mathis. Rivera said the man then kidnapped a girl, who reportedly escaped at around 4:30 a.m. and told law enforcement the suspect planned to die in a shootout with police in a "blaze of glory."
It is unknown whether the girl knew the suspect.
Cirildo Munoz tells 3NEWS he lives at the house where the suspect was barricaded.
He said heard his dogs barking early in the morning and went outside to see what was going on.
That's when he heard his back sliding door, and realized he'd been locked out of his home of 30 years. Munoz is safe.
He spoke with 3NEWS Tuesday afternoon:
Munoz's neighbors said they saw police chase the suspect, and saw the man run through a field and into his house.
Rivera said the San Patricio Tactical Response Team was called in because the suspect was reportedly armed, as well as three different DPS SWAT teams and negotiators, but the man stopped communicating with officials.
At around 4 p.m., Rivera said SWAT made entry through the window and deployed about three to four flash bangs while entering the home. It was then that the suspect was found dead inside.
Rivera said the man is previously has served jail time and that the man was a member of a gang.
3NEWS multi-skilled journalist Michael Gibson and chief photographer Preston West contributed to this story.