2 in custody, 1 dead after shots fired at Houston police

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - One man is dead and two are in custody after a SWAT standoff on the Northeast Side.

It happened on Van Molan St. near Fulton.

Around 10:15 Thursday morning, a woman called 911 after smelling a chemical smell coming from a pickup truck parked in front of her home.

"It happened so fast. I don't know how to describe it. It was bad." she said hanging her head. She did not give her name.

The fire department arrived to check out the smell coming from a black pickup truck parked in front of her home. The three men in the truck refused to acknowledge the firefighters so they called for the police.

"The officers arrive. They were met with gunfire. They were shot at and they retreat." said Sgt. Richard Rodriguez.

Two of the men in the truck bailed out and surrendered. The SWAT team came in and surrounded the truck. They then determined the driver had fired two shots at police and then shot himself.

Why did this happen? Police have a theory.

"They'd been on a bender since early, early this morning. They came back here and continued using dope inside the vehicle which is probably what the foul odor was. And because of that, the impaired judgment . By being high and doing dope it just went down the way it went down." said Sgt. Rodriguez.

It's not clear at this point if police have been to this house before or why the men decided to get high in front of it. But the sergeant says this street is well-known for drug activity, which may explain why some neighbors say this was no big deal.

"No, this sort of thing happens in Mexico every day. It's familiar. If you go to Mexico you are going to see something like that," said neighbor Francisco Rodriguez.