COMAL COUNTY, Texas — Brandon Poulos, the man accused of shooting 7 San Antonio police officers during a standoff in Stone Oak on Wednesday night, allegedly made a similar suicide threat call in Comal County just the night before.
At about 11:25 p.m. Tuesday, the Comal County Sheriff’s Office received a call in which Poulos allegedly threatened to kill himself. He reportedly told authorities to record the call, saying his mom was trying to stop him from hurting himself.
Moments later, CCSO said they received a call from Poulos’ worried mother saying he had just been released from jail in Bexar County and was very intoxicated, armed and threatening to kill himself.
Over the span of 30 calls with Poulos, he allegedly kept telling CCSO that he did not want to get law enforcement involved, saying, “I will shoot police if they approach me.”
Officials say two trained hostage negotiators joined in to assist dispatchers attempting to deescalate the situation.
Just after 3 a.m. Wednesday, CCSO said all communication with Poulos had stopped, prompting them to utilize drone technology by 3:22 a.m. to safely assess the scene.
During that time, Poulos never tried to leave the home, and no further threats or shots were being reported, but officials maintained a presence in the area as a precaution, CCSO said.
Further investigation revealed that Poulos had an active protective order against him. Officials obtained an arrest warrant for allegedly violating that order on Wednesday afternoon.
Poulos’ wife asked deputies to accompany her as she returned home, and there was no sign of Poulos when they arrived at the residence.
By that evening, San Antonio police officers were responding to a “suicide in progress” call in the Stone Oak area, resulting in seven SAPD officers being struck by bullets that were allegedly fired by Poulos. In the early hours of Thursday morning, Poulos was found dead by a SWAT team after hours of negotiations.