Texas National Guardsmen held at gunpoint while transporting COVID-19 vaccines

A gunman who claimed to be a police officer is accused of ambushing a group of Army National Guard soldiers on Monday while they were delivering a load of COVID-19 vaccine to a health clinic in Texas.

Police said Larry Lee Harris, 66, had been following the van, along with two others, for about 10 miles northeast of Lubbock. Just before 8 a.m., he attempted to run the vans off the road, then did a U-turn on the highway and cut them off, said Eric C. Williams, chief of the Idalou Texas Police Department.

“He told the Guardsmen that he was a detective and proceeded to search through their vans,” Chief Williams said in an interview with The Washington Times.

Police said Mr. Harris held the Guard contingent at gunpoint with a Colt .45 pistol. The National Guard soldiers were unarmed.

“Those Guardsmen were pretty shaken up. A lot of them were young kids,” Chief Williams said.

While they were carrying COVID-19 vaccine to a clinic in Matador, Texas — about 80 miles northeast of Lubbock — police said Mr. Harris believed the Texas Guardsmen had kidnapped a woman and a 12-year-old girl. Police said they have no record of the kidnapping case.

“He is not in his right mind,” Chief Williams said. Police said the suspect, a resident of Wilcox, Arizona who works in construction, had multiple magazines with him and extra ammunition in his pickup truck. Officers took him into custody and he was transferred to the Lubbock County Jail.

He has been charged with several felony crimes including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; impersonating a public servant; unlawful restraint and interfering with Texas military forces. Homeland Security Investigations has also launched an inquiry into the incident, police said.

“This was a very dangerous situation since the suspect was standing in the midst of unarmed Guardsmen with a loaded weapon,” Chief Williams said.