Texas Officer Shot During Routine Traffic Stop, Culprit Fled the Scene

A police officer in Terrell, TX, pulled over a truck in what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop. The driver ended up opening fire on the officer who later died from the injuries.

The Attack of Officer Jacob Candanoza

Around 11pm, 28-year-old Terrell Police Officer Jacob Candanoza witnessed a pickup truck driving on the road with expired Mississippi license plates.

Candanoza pulled the truck over in a motel parking lot and called for backup as he exited his squad car. Candanoza then approached the pickup truck when the driver, 25-year-old Darrian Cortez Johnson produced a firearm and shot the officer in the head and face multiple times at close range.

Terrell PD noted, in a Facebook post, that when officers arrived on the scene, they confirmed an officer had indeed been shot. Candanoza, a former marine and police officer with Terrell PD since July of this year, was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.

This was also reported to be Terrell PD's first officer killed in the line of duty since 1980.

Fox 4 includes that, because Candanoza was able to provide dispatch with the truck's license plate information, officers and highway patrol were able to locate Johnson and initiate a police chase.

Johnson soon crashed his truck on the Kaufman and Van Zandt County line before fleeing on foot into a forested area.

A seven-hour search was then conducted before Johnson was finally captured around 5:30 the next morning.

Johnson was arrested and jailed in Kaufman County. He is charged with Capital Murder of a Peace Officer.