A woman was shot inside the El Paso Health and Human Services building Wednesday after an hours-long standoff with a SWAT team.
El Paso Police Department spokesman Sergeant Enrique Carrillo says the woman entered the building at around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, apparently armed with a gun. She allegedly threatened a security guard and employees and made demands over benefits that had been cut off or suspended. A SWAT team arrived and evacuated employees to a nearby restaurant.
Carrillo says the woman barricaded herself in an office. The department's crisis management team then talked on and off with her.
"At about 3:30 the woman came out of the office armed with a gun, and she pointed it at SWAT officers," Carillo said. "Shots were fired, and she received a wound."
Carrillo could not say whether shots were fired on both sides. The woman was transported to University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. No officers were injured.
A man claiming to be the woman's husband told KFOX and KVIA that the woman died at an area hospital.
The El Paso Police Department has not identified the woman. Her husband, Omar Soto, was at the scene and spoke briefly with reporters before leaving for the hospital. He challenged the department's account.
"It was a toy gun, dude," he said. "You could see it was a toy gun. ...She just came over here to fix her papers from the food stamps office..."
Carrillo says the department's Crimes Against Persons Unit and Shooting Review Team, in addition to the Texas Rangers, will conduct investigations into the shooting.
