Sulphur Springs Police Chief Jay Sanders, a member of the SWAT team, told KSST News that the individual who barricaded himself from police this morning is apparently dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Justice of the Peace B J Teer agreed. Teer pronounced the time of death for 55-year old Roger Lane Petty as noon Thursday, September 10, 2015. Teer has ordered an autopsy to be performed by American Forensics of Mesquite. Teer released the name of the deceased this afternoon just before 5 p.m.
Chief Sanders said the Special Crimes Unit went to Cumby this morning to serve a warrant on a Cumby man living on Commerce Street there. The man came to the door with a rifle but did not point it at the officers. The officers, seeing the rifle, took cover. The man went back into the house and the law enforcement officers heard a shot. They established a perimeter and called for backup.
Following two hours of negotiation, the man cut off contact. He would not answer calls from the police. Hopkins County Command, in charge of the scene, ordered the SWAT team to put tear gas into the house. That resulted in no response. Again phone calls were made but no response, according to Sanders.
SWAT made entry into the front door of the house. Inside, they found the subject had a gunshot wound and had apparently taken his own life. EMS made entry into the house at 12:07 p.m. to confirm the death.
Cumby schools had been placed in lockdown to ensure the safety of their students due to the police matter according to a school spokesperson. The schools were placed in lockdown at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when notified of the police standoff a few blocks away.
A warrant service on an individual on Commerce Street in Cumby resulted in the individual barricading himself. Hopkins County Sheriff’s officers, Cumby Police, and others have responded to the situation. Commerce Street and Main Street in Cumby are close with Cumby Volunteer Firemen manning the barricades.
On the Cumby school campus, classes are continuing according to schedule and the elementary students are eating lunch at their regular time. For the high school, lunch will be taken to their building according to the spokesperson. She stated this was being done to ensure the safety of the students.
A resident on Tarrant Street reported hearing 13 shots nearby, some faint and some louder beginning at about 11:30 a.m. The neighborhood has been shut down and those living in houses near the Commerce Street house have been evacuated.
