Terrell police officer Jacob Candanoza was shot and killed late Sunday evening.
Candanoza, 28, initiated a traffic stop at about 11 p.m. in the 1600 block of South State Highway 34, pulling over a gray Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck with Mississippi license plates in the parking lot of the Super 8 motel. Candanoza radioed in the vehicle’s license plate number and requested that additional officers respond to the scene.
According to the police report, a struggle ensued between the driver and the officer. Moments later, dispatchers received two 911 calls and a citizen’s radio call reporting that the officer had been shot.
CareFlight transported the officer to Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Forney, where he later died.
The male suspect drove from the scene immediately after the shooting, but Texas Highway Patrol and off-duty officers were able to locate the vehicle and pursue the suspect into Van Zandt County. During the pursuit, the suspect crashed the vehicle and fled on foot into the nearby woods.
By 5:30 a.m. on Monday, the suspect had been apprehended and was booked into the Kaufman County Jail. Police have not publicly identified the suspect.
Candanoza had served with the Terrell Police Department since July 2024. During the previous year, he had worked as a peace officer and a jailer for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, per The Dallas Morning News. Candanoza was a graduate of Midlothian High School and a former U.S. Marine.
He leaves behind a wife and a young daughter.
Candanoza’s fellow officers organized a procession to escort the fallen officer’s body from the hospital to the medical examiner’s office. Hundreds of police officers lined the streets and saluted in unison, according to Candanoza’s father, who rode along in the procession.
”It was so overwhelming,” he told DMN. “I was so grateful to see that.”
Candanoza is the first officer to die in the line of duty in Terrell since 1980.