Bounty hunters, fugitive die in shootout at Texas auto dealership

Published 9:41 am Thursday, June 1, 2017

GREENVILLE, Texas — Two bounty hunters and a fugitive from Minnesota they were hunting died in a shootout at a Texas auto dealership while employees and customers fled for cover, authorities said.

The shootings occurred at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Nissan outlet in Greenville, which is 50 miles northeast of Dallas in north Texas. No one else was shot or injured.

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A video of the shootout showed the bounty hunters scuffling with the fugitive in a glass office at the dealership when shots ring out in quick succession. A man can be heard shouting, “Get down!” as a woman shrieks in the background.

Authorities identified the bounty hunters as Fidel Garcia Jr., 54, and Gabriel Bernal, 33.  They said Garcia is the owner of F. N. G. Security and Investigations of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Bernal worked for him.

The fugitive was identified as Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota. Authorities said he was wanted for an outstanding warrant in Minnesota for failure to appear in court on a drug charge, disarming a police officer and assault of an officer. He had been free on $50,000 bail, and on the run since March.

Rick Ford, owner of the dealership, said the bounty hunters initially presented themselves as federal agents and had waited several hours for Hutchinson to arrive on the scene.

Hutchinson was in an office with another person when the bounty hunters approached and began giving him commands to stand down and not resist, authorities said. Instead, they added, he pulled a handgun from his waistband, but dropped it on a desk.

Authorities said the bounty hunters moved toward Hutchinson as retrieved the gun, and a scuffle involving the three ensued.  They said Hutchinson broke free and began firing his gun, with the bounty hunters firing back.

Officials said about 20 shots were fired in the span of six seconds. They said the three men died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.

“We were all very relieved that none of our employees or customers were hurt,” Ford said in an interview with Fox affiliate KDFW. “We can replace the glass; we can replace the furniture.”

Greenville police received several 911 calls from the scene. One woman reported she was “hiding in the bathroom. Please hurry.” Another woman sobbed into the phone, saying, “Oh, my God.”