Armed manhunt locks down schools, closes Val Verde County Courthouse

A manhunt for an armed and dangerous man shut down two south Del Rio schools and forced the Val Verde County Courthouse to close its doors late Thursday morning, disrupting classes, court business and access to county offices across courthouse square.

County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said a sheriff’s deputy alerted him shortly after 10 a.m. that officers were searching for a dangerous suspect in the San Felipe area south of the courthouse. Owens then ordered the main courthouse, the AliceMae Fitzpatrick Annex, the county attorney’s office and another nearby building closed for the rest of the day.

St. James Episcopal School and Sacred Heart Academy were also placed on lockdown, putting parents and staff on alert as law enforcement converged on the neighborhood. The courthouse complex at 400 Pecan Street handles district-court and county-at-law matters, including work tied to the 63rd and 83rd District Courts, so the shutdown interrupted a broad swath of in-person government business. County notices and filings are normally posted online, but residents who needed hearings, records or administrative help were left waiting until offices reopened.

The response drew city, county, state and federal officers into the area. Sheriff’s trucks, Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles, U.S. Border Patrol support and Del Rio Police Department personnel were visible in different parts of south Del Rio, with officers concentrating near San Felipe Creek, the Tardy Dam area, Rincon Del Diablo park and the former Meme’s Kleen Kitchen site by H-E-B. The search covered multiple blocks and transportation corridors, underscoring how quickly the operation spread beyond one call site.

Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said the situation stemmed from an incident involving the Del Rio Police Department, though city officials had not yet given a full explanation. Val Verde County’s official listings identify Owens as county judge and Martinez as sheriff, and the sheriff’s office lists its main number as 830-774-7513 for residents needing information as the operation unfolded. More details on the underlying police incident were still pending as the lockdowns and courthouse closure continued.