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Sgt. Allen Teston of the Temple Police Department said late Wednesday that the man was in stable condition at Scott & White Memorial Hospital and was doing well considering the injuries.
It was unclear late Wednesday if police shot the man or he shot himself.
“At one point during the pursuit the suspect fired his weapon at officers who were pursuing him,” Bell County Sheriff Dan Smith said. “As a result of that, officers returned fire. I will just tell you that more than one officer from more than one agency returned fire and did strike the suspect.”
Officers from Cameron, Rogers, Little River-Academy, Temple, Bell County and the Department of Public Safety were involved.
The sheriff said also that officers who witnessed the shooting said that Tucker turned his weapon on himself.
Kenneth Andrew Tucker of Cameron had been identified earlier in video footage of robberies at two Cameron stores. Police said then he was armed and dangerous.
Police at the scene of the shooting would not confirm Tucker’s identity but said he was the suspect in the Cameron robberies.
Wednesday afternoon, police scanner chatter indicated that Cameron police got word that Tucker was on his way to a drug deal in the Heidenheimer area. They contacted the Bell County Sheriff’s Department to assist.
“At about the time my deputies arrived, the suspect exited the Heidenheimer store, displayed a weapon, challenged the officers and began to flea through the fields,” Sheriff Smith said.
Earlier, while Tucker was still on the run, Virgil Canady, who lives in the area, saw deputies’ cars pulling up outside his house.
“They were watching with binoculars from a ditch on the side of the road,” Canady said.
Canady saw Tucker running. “He started weaving around and then the tactical truck tried to get near him,” he said. “When they got too close he said something, turned his head, started running and looking the other way. He was saying something. He was shooting backwards maybe two or three shots, then he put the gun to his head.”
“Temple police became involved in this event shortly after 6 o’clock,” Temple Police Chief Gary O. Smith said. “We received word that the sheriff’s office was requesting some assistance due to the large area that the suspect was moving through. It was very difficult to maintain visual contact so a team of officers was sent along with equipment we had - protecting officers in an environment when there’s not a lot of protection from buildings or structures.”
The armored vehicle that Temple police added to their fleet late last week was called out for the second day in a row.
Temple officers tried to bring the suspect down with a projectile round of foam, Chief Smith said.
A deputy suffered a wrist injury, Sheriff Dan Smith said, adding that he believes the officer broke his wrist.
The Texas Rangers will investigate as is usual when police are involved in a shooting.
“It will be a fairly large investigation,” Sheriff Smith said. “It’s going to involve the Cameron Police Department, Temple, us (Bell County Sheriff's Department), the DPS were out here. The Ranger will have his part in a parallel investigation.”
When Chief Smith was asked if he felt “lucky” that no officers were seriously injured he replied that he didn’t feel that luck was the word.
“I am very pleased that our officers worked in a team effort with other agencies in a very serious situation. It is unfortunate that someone was very seriously injured in this. I don’t think that’s luck, I think that’s good training and good cooperation between law enforcement agencies,” Chief Smith said.