An urgent manhunt is underway for 44-year-old Ronnie Palmer, a person of interest in the fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy in Texas, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) announced on Facebook.
“Please call us now: do not aid or assist him or you can face serious consequences for doing so. We want a safe resolution. We are relentless and will not give up!” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote.
Mr. Palmer is a person of interest in the death of Sheriff’s Deputy Fernando Esqueda, 28, a member of the elite HCSO Violent Person’s Task Force. Mr. Palmer is also wanted in relation to the aggravated assault of a pizza shop employee.
Mr. Esqueda responded to the call regarding the aggravated assault at a Little Caesars Pizza outlet in northeast Houston on Wednesday night, Chief Deputy Mike Lee said at a press conference.
In what Mr. Lee described as a “senseless” interaction, the suspect allegedly became upset when his order was incorrectly fulfilled. He verbally assaulted the employee, before producing a firearm and pistol-whipping the staff member. He then fled the scene, Mr. Lee said.
Authorities were able to track his car down through the employee’s description of the vehicle and its license plate number.
A notification was sent out to the numerous deputies and detectives on patrol that night. Mr. Esqueda notified his team that he believed he had located the vehicle. However, he was ambushed while on the phone with another detective, Mr. Lee said.
Mr. Esqueda was shot multiple times and severely injured. He was in a critical condition when his colleagues arrived and, rather than waiting for paramedics, they placed him in a patrol vehicle and rushed him to the hospital, where he later died.
Mr. Esqueda was a five-year Harris County Sheriff’s Office veteran, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement on X. As a member of the Violent Person Task Force, he was directly involved in tracking down dangerous criminals, including child rapists and homicide suspects.
He was also one of the many detectives working overtime to keep residents safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
“He was dedicated to protecting and serving the residents of Harris County,” Sheriff Gonzalez wrote on Facebook, adding that Deputy Esqueda’s “duty and his sacrifice will always be remembered.”
If anyone has any information on the person of interest in the case, they are requested to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).