Suspect fires over 800 rounds at Texas officers serving felony warrants, one deputy killed in Van Zandt County

A suspect fired more than 800 rounds at Texas police officers arriving to serve two felony arrest warrants, killing one deputy and wounding a police officer before being found dead inside the home.

On Tuesday night, a Van Zandt County sheriff's deputy and members of the Canton police went to the home of 42-year-old Mi Van Nguyen to serve warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault on a peace officer. At around 10:20 p.m., Nguyen opened fire from inside the house with a semiautomatic rifle, discharging more than 800 rounds at the officers outside, according to NBC 5.

Deputy Ahmed "Adam" Sherifi was killed in the confrontation. Canton police officer Chris Watson was injured; fellow deputy Brandon Fonteneau provided lifesaving care under fire and shot at the suspect to allow other personnel to move Watson to safety. Watson continues to recover in hospital. Nguyen was later found dead inside the home from a gunshot wound. The Texas Rangers are investigating.

At a Friday press conference, Sheriff Kevin Bridger emphasized the scale of the barrage. "Think about that. 800 rounds shot at the men and women whose only purpose was to carry out their duties to protect this community," he said, calling the attack "pure evil." No additional motive was released.

The figure itself is the notable one. Eight hundred rounds from a single semiautomatic rifle is the sustained ammunition expenditure of a fortified infantry position, discharged through the windows of a suburban house against a warrant service that had no apparent intelligence on what lay behind the door. The warrants Nguyen was already wanted under — aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault on a peace officer — describe a man with a documented history of armed confrontation with authority, and officers went to that door anyway.

Sherifi is survived by a wife and a newborn child, who stood near the sheriff at the press conference. Funeral services are expected next week.