Domestic dispute ends in deputy shooting, killing rural Donna man

A domestic dispute in rural Donna early Sunday morning erupted into a deadly encounter between a Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputy and a man who authorities say rammed his car into the deputy’s patrol unit, ending in the deputy shooting the suspect who later died at a local hospital.

It began, the sheriff’s office said in a news release, when deputies arrived in the 4000 block of Amelia Lane at around 12:39 a.m. in response to a domestic dispute. That’s when a deputy’s patrol unit was “intentionally struck at a high rate of speed by a vehicle after exiting the residence in question.”

The crash was such that the unit’s airbags deployed, which the sheriff’s office said limited the deputy’s visibility.

Javier Aguilar, 34, then exited the vehicle that crashed into the unit and “approached the deputy in a threatening manner,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Authorities said the deputy feared for his safety and shot Aguilar in the torso using his duty weapon.

Aguilar was taken to South Texas Health System McAllen where he was pronounced dead nearly two hours later, at 2:20 a.m.

The deputy, who has not been identified, was also taken to a local hospital to treat injuries sustained due to the airbag deployment, and was later released.

The county’s major crimes investigators together with crime scene specialists found that Aguilar was involved in a “heated argument with his partner earlier in the evening after attending an event,” and that during the argument threatened to “harm law enforcement if they were notified.”

“This remains an ongoing criminal investigation; we encourage witnesses with any information regarding this case to come forward,” the sheriff’s office said.

Call the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office at (956) 383-8114 if you have information to assist the investigation, or to remain anonymous call the Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers Hotline at (956) 668-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip using the P3 TIPS app.

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