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Shootout At Texas Car Dealership Leaves 3 Dead

Ramon Michael Hutchinson, shown in the photo provided by the sheriff's office in Hennepin County, Minn., and two bounty hunters were killed during a hail of gunfire at a Texas car dealership Tuesday night.
AP
Ramon Michael Hutchinson, shown in the photo provided by the sheriff's office in Hennepin County, Minn., and two bounty hunters were killed during a hail of gunfire at a Texas car dealership Tuesday night.

Warning: A quick succession of gunshots can be heard on the video but no graphic aftermath is shown.

Customers and employees were diving for cover Tuesday night at the Nissan dealership in Greenville, Texas.

Two bounty hunters and the fugitive from Minnesota that they were tracking exchanged gunfire.

Twenty shots were fired in about six seconds, according to a statement from Kathy Lucas, a spokeswoman for the city.

In the end, the two bounty hunters, Fidel Garcia Jr., 54, and Gabriel Bernal, 33, as well as fugitive Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, were killed.

Garcia and Bernal began tracking Hutchinson after he failed to appear for a March court hearing in Hennepin County, Minn.

Hutchinson was facing several charges that included assaulting a law enforcement officer.

According to news reports, the bounty hunters arrived at the dealership, which is about 50 miles northeast of Dallas, earlier in the day and waited hours for Hutchinson to show up.

It wasn't immediately clear why Hutchinson had come to Texas from Minnesota.

The city of Greenville released video of the shooting to reporters on Wednesday.

The Dallas Morning News reports the video shows two armed men cornering a third man in a glass office at the dealership. As the men scuffle, gunshots ring out in quick succession.

Garcia and Bernal had drawn their weapons and Hutchinson responded by pulling his own pistol, which he dropped, according to a statement from the city spokeswoman.

The men fought as Hutchinson retrieved his weapon and began firing. The other two fired as well.

All three received multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene, authorities say. No one else was struck by gunfire.

"We were all very relieved that none of our employees or customers were hurt," the dealership's owner Rick Ford told KDFW TV. "We can replace the glass; we can replace the furniture."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Doreen McCallister