We reported on Friday the vague details of an incident that took place on I-10 around 10 am in the morning, stopping traffic on the interstate for almost 2 hours. The Sealy Police Department was kind enough to sit down with us and give the full details of the incident (see video below).
The victim was 30 year old Cruz Guerrero-Arreola, a resident of Sealy. The victim was declared deceased at 10:21 am on December 15, 2017 by a doctor via information provided to that doctor by Austin County Medic Unit #4. Cause of death was suicide by one .380 projectile gunshot wound to the head with extenuating circumstances (i.e. self-propelled from the vehicle).
Police report that he and his girlfriend were travelling westbound on I-10 around 70-75 miles an hour when the victim opened the drivers side door, leaned out of the car and shot himself. He then fell out of the vehicle where his body came to rest on the shoulder of the interstate. His girlfriend, who had no warning that this was about to happen, was able to steer the vehicle with her left hand to safety off the side of the road where it safely came to a stop after traveling about 300 feet due to the wet/muddy ground and tall grass.
There were 4 children in the vehicle along with the victim and his girlfriend at the time of the occurrence; a 2 month old, a 1 year old, a 2 year old and a 4 year old. CPS was contacted to help with the situation along with police, ambulance and fire. The incident has been ruled a suicide but, is awaiting closure due to additional forensic tests that were requested by Judge Cheryl Kollatchney, the JP who conducted the Inquest, to make sure there were no chemical substances involved.
The interview is in the video below with complete details by the Sealy Police Department: