Kidnapping victim killed during FBI raid in Texas
HOUSTON, Texas -- A kidnapping victim was killed after an FBI raid went wrong in Texas on Wednesday, according to authorities.
"FBI was conducting an operation at a home in the 7300 block of Elbert Street in Northeast Houston. During the course of the operation, an individual was fatally injured," reads a statement from the FBI. The FBI said it was still investigating who fired the shot which killed the man who had been kidnapped.
The identity of the victim has not being disclosed.
Conroe, Texas, police had called the FBI to help with a kidnapping investigation in which a father was kidnapped from his home by two men who demanded $20,000 in ransom from a family member, according to a criminal complaint.
Further investigation led to the location of the kidnapped father in another area of Houston.
"The FBI tactical response unit and investigators went to the area of Trinity Gardens where FBI made entry into a home where the victim was being held. The victim was located in the home and transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced deceased," said police. The incident began when two men with handguns forced their way into a residence while a 12-year-old boy and his father were home.
"The men demanded money, bound the child and father, and began searching the house for cash and valuables," police said in a statement.
Authorities said the intruders took the father from the house and left the residence, while the child, who was unharmed, freed himself and reached out to a neighbor to call Conroe police. An adult uncle who also lives at the residence returned home, and while police were at the scene the uncle received a phone call from an unknown person demanding $20,000 for the victim's safe return.
Conroe police then contacted the FBI, who later detained two male suspects and one female suspect in a hotel room, identified as Nicholas Chase Cunningham, 42, Jimmy Tony Sanchez, 38, and Sofia Perez Heath, 35.
A criminal complaint revealed that the victim was related to the wife of one of the male suspects.
The FBI says they are investigating the incident, but cannot comment on any details.
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