Suspect in deputy's shooting found dead after SWAT standoff

By Michelle Homer, Leigh Frillici & Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – A man suspected of killing a Chambers County deputy was found dead inside a mobile home Monday night, ending a 10-hour SWAT standoff.

A neighbor said the trouble began in the Tower Terrace subdivision at West Osage and Apache around 9:30 a.m. when someone went to Gilbert Ortez’s mobile home to shut off the water because the bill hadn’t been paid.

Another neighbor, who was outside with her dogs at the time, said she was shocked to see what happened next.

“The wife came out and they were having words, so she shot at the water lady,” said the woman. “And that’s when the water lady ran and she must have called the cops.”

Chambers County deputies went to the home to arrest the woman, who investigators identified as Ortez’s girlfriend, Pamela Leggett.

But when deputies arrived, the neighbor said Ortez opened fire, hitting Deputy Shane T. Detwiler in the head.

“The guy started pop, pop, pop, shooting,” the neighbor said by telephone.

Deputy Detwiler died at the scene. His colleagues had to wait for the gunfire to stop before they could retrieve his body.

Officers from the Chambers County Sheriff’s Department and DPS, as well as ambulances, fire trucks and a Life Flight helicopter, were called to the scene.

The frightened neighbor said she spent hours hiding in her bathroom until deputies evacuated her late Monday afternoon.

“This is ridiculous. I want to get outta here,” she said by telephone.

The neighbor said deputies also went to Ortez's home last Friday because of a disturbance.

The neighbor's name was withheld for her protection.

At one point during the standoff, a robot took a phone inside the mobile home to try and establish communication with Ortez. Officers also tried to smoke him out with tear gas around 4 p.m., but he didn’t budge.

Officers had not been in contact with Ortez since the morning. When they entered the home around 7:30 p.m., they found him dead. Ortez had been shot, but investigators aren’t sure if it was suicide or if he was killed by one of the officers’ bullets.

Deputy Shane Detwiler [left] leaves behind a wife and three small children and was a decorated veteran of the Iraq war.

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