Pecos standoff

PECOS A Pecos man was killed outside his mobile home Wednesday morning after he reportedly shot and wounded a Reeves County sheriff’s deputy serving a warrant.

Authorities refused to say whether they shot 61-year-old Michael Douglas Hickey, and several details remained unclear after an hours-long standoff that displaced trailer park residents and shut down the city zoo.

Deputy Jerry G. Millan, 42, was wearing a bulletproof vest when he knocked on Hickey’s door but sustained at least two gunshot wounds, authorities said. He was airlifted to Medical Center Hospital in Odessa where he was listed in stable condition late Wednesday.

Capt. Reno Lewis of the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office said authorities ordered an autopsy to shed more light on Hickey’s death. “We’re not sure exactly what took place,” said Lewis, who became emotional in briefing reporters just a few yards from Hickey’s pale green mobile home. “I‘ve asked the DPS Texas Rangers to assist us in the investigation.”

Hickey’s neighbors watched from a distance in disbelief as dozens of lawmen secured a vast perimeter and a DPS helicopter hovered above, swooping down abruptly at times. Officers outfitted in SWAT gear stood guard in front of yellow crime-scene tape that whipped in the wind and cordoned off the entrances to the zoo.

Authorities from several counties set up a staging area adjacent to the Trapark RV and Mobile Home Park south of Interstate 20 and parked an Odessa Police Department mobile command unit in front of Hickey’s home. Lewis said authorities were unable to reach Hickey by phone during the standoff.

“This sort of thing doesn’t happen here,” said Drexler Gilstrap, a neighbor who had been sitting in his dining room when he was startled by the ringing of two gunshots. “If it did, I wouldn’t live here.”

The shooting happened about mid-morning, though Lewis could not say exactly when authorities arrived. Hickey’s trouble began several miles away at the Pecos County Courthouse after he failed to appear for a hearing on two misdemeanor charges.

Pecos County Attorney Alva Alvarez said Hickey was due in court for a case involving “a huge amount” of hot checks. She said Hickey had written thousands of dollars of worthless checks late last year. Local court documents show Hickey bounced at least one check for $169.74 to the Best Western.

“Thank God he didn’t come because I’m afraid he would have shown up with the gun,” Alvarez said in a phone interview.

Though Alvarez said Hickey complained of having car trouble, an attachment was issued for his arrest, and Millan was sent to see why Hickey had not appeared. Steven Pineda, 43, who lives across the street from Hickey, said Millan was shot and then stumbled to his front door and began ringing the door bell and beating on the side of the mobile home. He said the deputy was unable to use his radio because he was in shock.

“I was telling him I had already called for back up,” said Pineda, who added that it took several minutes to convince the authorities that an officer was down.

Pineda said it was difficult to tell Millan had been shot but for two small rings of blood he saw on the front of his chest. He said he helped Millan, a father of two, to hide behind a tree as they waited on an ambulance.

“I kept telling him that (Hickey) could run across the street for him at any time,” Pineda said.

As investigators canvassed Hickey’s yard for evidence after the shooting, Pineda and his father combed through adjacent lots searching for Millan’s wedding band, which they said he lost at some point during the fracas.

In the months before the shooting, neighbors said Hickey appeared to be in decline, particularly after the death of his mother, who had lived with him. Tom Kalaher, manager of the mobile home park, said Hickey was in arrears on his rent and that he had not been seen since before Christmas. Hickey’s utilities had also recently been turned off, neighbors said.

“He was kind of a loner,” Kalaher said, adding he never had any problems with Hickey.

MacArthur Pineda, Steven Pineda’s father, said Hickey was “a friendly guy who would say ‘hi’ to you all the time.” He said he was surprised when the authorities found multiple guns in the mobile home because Hickey never talked about his weapons or practiced at the local firing range.

“It’s sad that something like this happened,” the elder Pineda said.

Lewis said the Sheriff’s Office will conduct an investigation into the shooting with the assistance of the Texas Rangers but did not offer a timetable for its completion.

“There are going to be a lot of questions we probably can’t answer, but we’re going to do our best to change what we’re doing,” Lewis said, adding that the department was considering requiring at least two deputies to be present to serve warrants.