Houston-area SWAT teams search for killer of deputy who responded to pizzeria pistol-whipping

Authorities in Houston have set up SWAT teams as they search for the suspect they say fatally shot a sheriff’s deputy in an apparent ambush

Authorities in the Houston-area are searching for a man suspected of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy in an apparent ambush after pistol-whipping a pizzeria clerk, authorities said Thursday.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Deputy Fernando Esqueda, 28, was killed in the shooting late Wednesday.

Harris County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an assault on a clerk at a Little Caesars Pizza in the Houston area just after 10 p.m. Chief Deputy Mike Lee said at a news conference.

A customer who came in to pick up a pizza he ordered got upset because the order was incorrect and pistol-whipped the clerk and fled, Lee said.

The clerk provided a description of the customer's vehicle and its license plate number, which was traced to a location where deputies began searching for the vehicle, Lee said.

The deputy notified others that he had found the vehicle, and was communicating with another deputy when he was apparently ambushed, Lee said. When others arrived, they found Esquela shot multiple times and rushed him to the hospital, where he died.

Authorities believe they have a good idea who the suspect is and SWAT teams have been set up at two locations, Lee said, expressing confidence that he’ll be taken into custody in a “timely manner.”

“If the suspect happens to see this, he needs to do the right thing and turn himself in,” Lee said.

Esquela “very well thought of” as a member of an elite task force focused on violent people, and had been with the sheriff’s office for about five years, Lee said.

“We pray with Deputy Esqueda’s family, friends, and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time,” Gonzalez said. “None of us are ever prepared for such an untimely death and our members need your prayers and support.”

The deputy had been working 12-hour shifts along with all other sheriff’s department staff to provide security and prevent looting after Hurricane Beryl, according to Lee, the chief deputy.