CRANDALL, Texas — The Texas Rangers are investigating an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound of a man who was considered a person of interest in an Ellis County homicide.
CRANDALL, Texas — The Texas Rangers are investigating an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound of a man who was considered a person of interest in an Ellis County homicide.
U.S. Marshals were attempting to apprehend the person of interest when he apparently suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Ellis County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jo Ann Livingston.
The person of interest was later identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as 60-year-old Michael Hodge of Ferris, Texas.
"The preliminary investigation indicates that as officers approached, Mr. Hodge entered his pickup and shot himself with a handgun," DPS spokesperson Lonny Haschel told inForney.com. "Officers immediately notified emergency medical services, and Mr. Hodge was airlifted to Parkland Hospital with life-threatening injuries."
"No officers were injured or discharged their weapons," stated Haschel. "The incident is under investigation by Texas Rangers, and no additional information is currently available."
The U.S. Marshals had located Hodge in the 7000 block of County Road 4104 in Kaufman County — just west of Crandall and near the Kaufman city limits.
Yesterday, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, jointly with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, began investigating an apparent homicide after the body of 58-year-old Debra Murdock Ballard of Ferris, Texas, was located in a field off Hill County Road 3102. Ballard was first reported missing on Wednesday.
A large area around a home on County Road 4104 was cordoned off by police which included a white pickup truck that was later towed from the scene by a Waxahachie-area towing company. Investigators have since cleared the scene.
This is a developing story.
