(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
Wichita County Sheriff David Duke on Friday shared details of a harrowing incident in Holliday that resulted in three deaths and an hours-long standoff.
Duke said the incident began about 2:15 p.m. Thursday when a woman could not reach her parents at their home on Ford Road in Holliday. The woman went to the house where she found her parents dead and her son in the home.
The son fled the house, and the woman called the Archer County Sheriff’s Office. When officers arrived, they exchanged gunfire with the suspect, age 28, who was allegedly armed with a rifle and retreated into a nearby metal barn.
Archer County Sheriff Jack Curd on Friday afternoon identified the suspect as Corey Drake and his grandparents as Fred and Peggy Maier.
Duke said on Thursday, the Wichita County Sheriff’s Office responded to provide aid at the scene, which was only a couple of miles from the county line.
He estimated that by the time the incident ended hours later, close to 75 law enforcement officers and five armored vehicles were deployed, including the WCSO and Wichita Falls Police Department SWAT teams, as well as several others.
Officers cordoned off a large area around the property.
Duke said the suspect had no cellphone, so negotiators tried to communicate with a bullhorn but never got a response. They knew he could be heavily armed because a gun safe in the grandparents’ home had been rifled.
One bay door to the barn was open, so a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department drone was sent in.
“It’s not in there more than 30 seconds, and it’s shot down,” Duke said.
Duke said numerous drones had been deployed at the scene, and it became obvious the suspect was in the loft of the barn.
“So, this is a tactical nightmare. You can’t just go walking in there when he’s in a loft and you can’t see him. He had an ultimate sniper’s perch,” Duke said.
He said later authorities decided to send a Texas Department of Public Safety drone into the barn.
“It barely gets in there, and he shoots it down, too,” the sheriff said.
Texas Rangers summoned a “Rook” vehicle and crew from Amarillo.
Duke described the Rook as a heavy armored vehicle with an attachment “like a stinger” that can reach up two stories and penetrate walls.
He said the operators punctured the barn and deployed gas into it and then began pulling the doors off the barn.
“We see he does have a weapon, and he’s not giving up,” Duke said.
He said the suspect had once told a relative he intended to “go out in a blaze of glory.”
Duke said officers knew the man had at least a rifle he had fired at Archer County deputies and a shotgun he used to shoot down the drones..
He said a Wichita County Sheriff’s Office armored vehicle moved into position at the barn door sometime around midnight.
“He gets up and raises the rifle toward the door. Our deputy took just one shot, and he instantly went to the ground. He never moved after that,” Duke said.
Duke said Texas Rangers are investigating the incident, and it would be up to them to provide identities and what motive might have led the man to kill his grandparents.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Sheriff reveals harrowing details of a deadly standoff in Holliday
