Video Captures Deadly Texas Police Ambush: 'I Have High-Power Rifles'

Poulos tells the call taker that he has firearms. Then, he threatened to harm any officer who approached him. "I'm fixing to shoot myself. They better be careful. I have high-power rifles and everything. If they come at me, I'm coming at them," Poulos says.

As officers coordinated their response at a nearby parking lot, a second call came from Poulos' mother.

"I need the police. Hurry! My son has my gun, and he's outside. He's shooting." she tells the dispatcher.

Other calls were made to 911 about the shooting, police spokesperson Washington Moscoso says.

Just before 8:30 p.m., as officers approached the breezeway, Poulos shot at them.

The video shows an officer taking on gunfire and yelling that he had been struck.

"I'm hit! I'm hit!" the officer shouts.

An officer in SAPD's helicopter informed officers as they arrived that Poulos was hiding behind a truck near the building — "preparing to ambush them," SAPD Sgt. Washington Moscoto says in the video narration.

"Eagle, Eagle, Eagle. He is at the back of that building. He's pointing the gun at me," an officer is heard saying in the video.

Poulos then took cover under a truck, Moscoso says.

"Just after 9 p.m., officers on the ground were developing a plan to take the suspect into custody when the suspect suddenly came out from under the truck, pointed the firearm multiple times at Eagle and ran back into the apartment," Moscoso says. "Once inside the apartment, the suspect began shooting out of a window towards the officers, striking additional patrol officers; at least one officer returned fire at the suspect."

A Feb. 2 custodial death report submitted by SAPD to the Texas Attorney General's Office also indicates that San Antonio police officers were beginning to coordinate their response when they were ambushed.

In the video, Moscoso says SWAT and negotiators used various tactics, trying to get Poulos to surrender. Eventually, several SWAT officers fired at Poulos multiple times. Poulos was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officers who were shot were rushed to the hospital by EMS or by other police officers.

A perimeter was set up around the apartment until SWAT arrived at the scene, Moscoso says.

"He's sitting outside the window. We got two officers shot," an officer is heard saying in the video. "We need an armor in front of that window."

The video then shows another view from an officer's body-worn camera of SWAT officers being shot at by Poulos as they approached.

"No SWAT officers were injured on the gunfire exchange. SWAT officers inside armored vehicles attempted different tactics to contact the suspect for a peaceful resolution," Moscoso says.

Officers attempted to negotiate with Poulos, who was inside his apartment, using various techniques for several hours, Moscoso says. But Poulos continued to shoot at them.

That's when SWAT officers who were in elevated positions inside and outside of armored vehicles fired shots at Poulos and struck him, Moscoso says.

"Because of the tactical positioning during the encounter, the SWAT body-worn cameras did not capture the moment when the suspect was shot," Moscoso says in the video.

The video then shows some of the firearms recovered at the scene that SAPD believes Poulos used to shoot at officers.

Poulos was pronounced deceased at the scene.

During the initial investigation, it was determined that Poulos had a self-inflicted superficial laceration across his neck, Moscoso says.

Moscoso adds that the seven SAPD officers who sustained non-life-threatening injuries have all been released from the hospital. No bystanders were injured during the shooting.

The investigation, which can take longer than a year, remains ongoing. The case will be sent to the Bexar County District Attorney for review.

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