The Kyle Police Department continues to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred after a 21-year-old man fled from a traffic stop in the Steeplechase subdivision.
No one was injured in the incident, but charges have been filed against Javier Hernandez, of Kyle, who was booked into the Hays County Jail Sunday.
Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said the incident began around 7:30 p.m. Saturday when police conducted a traffic stop along Brandi Circle. The stop involved a driver who police suspected of Driving Under the Influence (DUI).
When police initiated the stop, Barnett said the suspect, later identified as Hernandez, immediately fled the scene at a high rate of speed.
Hernandez drove through neighborhood streets, bypassing stop signs and narrowly avoiding two vehicles before leaving the roadway. Hernandez drove his vehicle into a ditch near the Brandi Circle and Goforth Road intersection.
As the officer exited his patrol car, Hernandez was alleged to have reversed his vehicle toward the officer, who then fired “multiple” shots with his handgun at Hernandez’s vehicle, according to a release. It’s unknown at this time how many shots the officer fired.
Hernandez then fled the scene again and narrowly missed hitting an arriving police cruiser head-on, Barnett said. In a statement, Barnett said officers saw the vehicle was on fire from underneath the carriage.
Police followed Hernandez, who drove for roughly 1.5 miles before stopping in front of a home in the 400 block of Masonwood Drive.
Barnett said Hernandez stopped the car, exited his vehicle and fled on foot before he was apprehended by law enforcement. Kyle Police helped extinguish the car fire.
Both the officer and Hernandez were taken to a local hospital for observation. The suspect was not shot in the incident and no one else was hit by the gunfire, Barnett said.
But the event created a cause for concern for some nearby residents.
Sheila Henderson, who has lived along Masonwood Drive for 19 years, said a friend called to inform her something was happening on her street.
Henderson said the first thing she thought when she received the news was the safety of her family. Henderson said no one in her family was home when the incident took place.
For Henderson, seeing the event on her street is something she said she sees on television or reads about elsewhere.
“You hear it and see it, it makes you nervous because it hits so close to home,” she said. “You also think about the reality of how big Kyle has grown.”
Jason Graschel, who has lived along Masonwood for seven months, captured officers arresting Hernandez on his cell phone.
Graschel said he heard a police siren and opened the door to see what was happening. He then saw police officers arriving at the scene as a man exited a smoking vehicle “almost as if he was drunk.”
He then watched Hernandez run to the side of a nearby home before he was caught.
Graschel, who has a cousin who is a Kyle Police sergeant, said he was “kind of shocked” the incident took place on his quiet street. However, he said he had faith Kyle Police could stop him.
“KPD was on top of it and took care of business quickly,” Graschel said.
Kyle Police charged Hernandez with Driving While Intoxicated, Evading Arrest or Detention with a Vehicle, Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant, and a second charge of Evading Arrest or Detention for fleeing the scene on foot. He will be booked into the Hays County Jail, according to the release.
