A four-hour standoff in a northeast Longview neighborhood ended Thursday evening in a hail of gunfire as officers shot and killed a registered nurse as she emerged with a weapon from a tear gas-filled house.
Longview police later identified the woman as Candace Jackson, 38. She was shot as she began to exit the house where she’d been holed up and fired several rounds at officers, police said.
Hours earlier, officers had sealed off the neighborhood after arriving about 1:20 p.m. in response to a call to check the welfare of a person in the 2000 block of Eden Drive. Another call about 20 minutes later reported gunfire in the neighborhood.
Soon after arriving, police said they came under fire from someone in the house. At one point early in the standoff, one officer could be heard via police radio telling another, “Get down! You’re in the line of fire!”
Radio traffic indicated officers initially thought the gunfire was coming from the garage.
Within minutes, police swarmed the area and began blocking traffic from Eastman, Alpine and Page roads and Layfayette Street. Longview police spokeswoman Kristie Brian said more than 20 officers, including SWAT and Crisis Intervention officers, were dispatched to the scene. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers also were on the scene.
Nearby schools were alerted and Longview ISD school buses were not allowed to deliver students to homes in the area. Buses were rerouted to J.L. Everhart Elementary, where students were kept inside.
A command post was set up in the parking lot of Cumberland Church on Eden Drive as the standoff, punctuated by sounds of gunshots and flash bangs on Eden, played out.
Brian said officers on the scene advised residents to stay inside as police tactical units surrounded the house near the intersection of Lafayette Street and Eden Drive.
For hours, negotiators attempted to interact with Jackson through a loudspeaker, and SWAT team officers used an armored vehicle as a shield to evacuate nearby houses.
Some neighbors were evacuated using the vehicle, known as a Bearcat. As it rolled from one house to the next, a marksman atop the vehicle kept a rifle trained on the house where Jackson was holed up.
Erika Rogers, who lives two streets over from the scene, said she heard the initial gunfire when police arrived.
“Early, when we didn’t know what was going on, we did hear four or five shots. We heard a couple, then a few minutes later a couple more,” she said.
Ron Wade, who lives on Lafayette Drive three blocks south of Eden Drive, said he remained inside after receiving an automated call from Longview police.
Police said Jackson fired on officers early in the standoff and again moments before she emerged from the gas-filled house.
“After the subject fired several more rounds from a weapon, police deployed several canisters of CS gas inside the home,” Brian said in a statement released by the department Thursday night. “At that point the subject began to exit the home with a weapon and fired several more rounds in the direction of police. At that time police officers on scene utilized deadly force.”
Jackson was pronounced dead a short time later at Good Shepherd Medical Center. An autopsy was ordered, Brian said.
The Texas Board of Nursing lists Jackson as a Longview resident with a current nursing license. Gregg County Appraisal District records indicate Jackson was the owner of a home at 2007 Eden Drive.
The shooting and standoff is being investigated by Texas Rangers.
— News-Journal reporters Sarah Thomas and Richard Yeakley and photographers Les Hassell and Kevin Green contributed to this report.
Police authorities in , Texas were embroiled in a standoff with an armed suspect for several hours yesterday. Late in the day, police —according to police reports— fired on and killed Candace Jackson, 38, as she exited the house and fired upon officers nearby.

The incident happened in a residential area near the 2000 block of Eden Drive. Early in the standoff, a police spokesperson told reporters the individual had possession of several weapons. Eye witnesses report the suspect being taken away from the scene via ambulance. 

 officers were dispatched to the scene, and many neighborhood residents were evacuated with the help of an armored police vehicle, manned by a sniper. Some residents who lived nearby gathered at a local convenience store until authorities would allow them to return. News video from the scene showed numerous police vehicles including the armored vehicle.

Some school buses carrying children who live in the area of the standoff were rerouted back to school, and parents were notified to pick up their children at the campuses. One man told reporters that his wife and child hid in a closet when they heard gunshots in the vicinity of their home. 

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