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OPD officer shoots suspect
by Staff Reports
Midland Reporter-Telegram
From Staff Reports
ODESSA -- One man was hospitalized early Sunday from a gunshot wound following an altercation with an Odessa police officer a few minutes earlier.
According to Odessa police, Cpl. Michael Caldwell was dispatched to the 1800 block of East 42nd Street around 4 a.m. to help control a fight that had broken out.
Upon arrival, he located an ongoing fight between several male adults at the intersection of North Redbud Avenue and East 37th Street.
When the officer came upon the scene, a maroon-colored vehicle was trying to leave the area and charged toward the officer at a high rate of speed, police reported.
Fearing for his safety, authorities said, Caldwell fired one shot from his duty weapon toward the vehicle.
Approximately 17 minutes later, the Odessa Regional Medical Center reported a gunshot victim came into their emergency room by a private vehicle.
It was later determined that the victim, 29-year-old Jaime Varela, was a passenger in the vehicle that fled the scene. He was struck one time in the left arm by a bullet believed to have been fired by Caldwell, police said.
The vehicle later was found at the Hemmingway House Apartments. Municipal Judge Carol Gregg issued an arrest warrant Sunday for Raul Lara, the driver of the vehicle, on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault against a public servant.
The Texas Rangers will help lead the investigation along with investigators from the OPD Crimes Against Persons Unit.
Caldwell has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, officials said.
ODESSA -- One man was hospitalized early Sunday from a gunshot wound following an altercation with an Odessa police officer a few minutes earlier.
According to Odessa police, Cpl. Michael Caldwell was dispatched to the 1800 block of East 42nd Street around 4 a.m. to help control a fight that had broken out.
Upon arrival, he located an ongoing fight between several male adults at the intersection of North Redbud Avenue and East 37th Street.
When the officer came upon the scene, a maroon-colored vehicle was trying to leave the area and charged toward the officer at a high rate of speed, police reported.
Fearing for his safety, authorities said, Caldwell fired one shot from his duty weapon toward the vehicle.
Approximately 17 minutes later, the Odessa Regional Medical Center reported a gunshot victim came into their emergency room by a private vehicle.
It was later determined that the victim, 29-year-old Jaime Varela, was a passenger in the vehicle that fled the scene. He was struck one time in the left arm by a bullet believed to have been fired by Caldwell, police said.
The vehicle later was found at the Hemmingway House Apartments. Municipal Judge Carol Gregg issued an arrest warrant Sunday for Raul Lara, the driver of the vehicle, on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault against a public servant.
The Texas Rangers will help lead the investigation along with investigators from the OPD Crimes Against Persons Unit.
Caldwell has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, officials said.
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