Two shot in Athens

((Update: March 17, 6:25 a.m.))

Athens Police Department press release

An armed robbery at a local business Wednesday night resulted in two suspects being shot, and two additional suspects being apprehended.

At approximately 8:45 p.m., four subjects entered the Game X Change, located in the 1100 block of E. Tyler Street. While one suspect was brandishing a handgun, the clerk and customers were ordered to the floor and the suspects demanded money from the cash register.

An off-duty Kerens police officer, who happened to be one of the customers in the store, engaged the suspects in an attempt to stop the robbery. The officer, who was armed, fired several shots striking two of the suspects; one in the side and the other in the arm. The officer then detained the subjects until the responding units from the Athens Police Department arrived.

A 16 -year-old suspect was transported to a Tyler hospital by helicopter with a wound to his right side. A second 16-year-old suspect was treated and released for a wound to his right, upper arm and then transported to the juvenile detention center in Van Zandt County.

Leroy Horton, III, 18, and Troy Douglas Horton, 17, both of Tyler, were taken to the Henderson County Justice Center. All four subjects face aggravated robbery charges.

Athens police were assisted at the scene by the Henderson County
Sheriff’s Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Henderson County District Attorney’s office. The Texas Rangers Service also responded to the scene and is conducting a parallel investigation which is customary in officer-involved shootings.

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((Originally posted: March 16, 11 p.m.))

Details were sketchy, but Athens Police Department officials verified that two individuals were shot Wednesday night.

Police received a report of a possible armed robbery at the Game Exchange in the 1100 block of East Tyler (that’s the shopping center behind McDonald’s) at about 8:45 p.m.

Initial reports say there were four suspects. During the commission of the crime, two of the suspects were shot. All four suspects are in police custody, with the two suspects who were shot at the hospital for medical care.

Athens police are still on the scene and are being assisted in their investigation by the Henderson County District Attorney’s Office and Texas Rangers.