Just after 6pm Monday evening the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office received a call for a shooting on Millcreek Drive just off FM1488 east of the Magnolia city limits.
When they arrived they found Veronico Montes Trujillo, age 64 shot once in the head in his Toyota Tundra pickup as it sat at the front gate of his gated ranch. The vehicle had four bullet holes in it and one in the Lincoln which was in the driveway facing his truck. The daughter told deputies that her father had come up to the gate and was unable to open it . As she approached the gate from the inside two masked and dark clothed males popped out of the woods and started shooting.
MCHD called for LifeFlight which landed on FM 1488 shutting it down for a short time. He was flown to Herman Hospital in the Texas Medical Center where he remains critical but stable.
Deputies sealed of the entire area and a manhunt was started. A Montgomery K-9 went into the heavily wooded area as he picked up a trail and remained on that trail for several hours in the woods. The dog was injured when he tangled with a barbed wire fence and had to stop the track.
At one point as the K-9, his handler and a Precinct 5 Deputy Constable became lost in the woods requiring some time to be located and guided out.
The area is pitch black, the deputies could not use flashlights for the fear of becoming moving targets for the two armed suspects.
At one point as deputies and DPS Troopers searched the area of Frier Tuck near FM 1486 two shots rang out in close proximity. Officers immediately attempted to identify the location of the shots. It was found to have been a home owner who heard through a friend that there was a man hunt for some murder suspects in his subdivision. He told officers he fired off the two warning shots to convey to the suspects if they were in the area that the home owner was armed.
As detectives worked the scene, residents were not allowed to drive to their homes until after 1am and remained parked along Millcreek Drive.
Texas Ranger Kevin Pullen arrived on the scene and set a command post up at the Magnolia West High School Campus. He was joined by multiple DPS Troopers, Harris County Sheriff’s Department K-9 units, a DPS helicopter, Precinct 5 Constable many of who were Reserves and reported in to assist. Also assisting was Stagecoach, Montgomery and Magnolia Police Departments. The Montgomery County SWAT Team was activated and responded to the scene to assist in the search.
According to Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bill Bucks the search will continue tomorrow. He stated the victim owned a tortilla company in Houston. There were different descriptions of the suspects. Witnesses said there were two males , armed standing in the street firing. Both were dressed in black and are believed to be between their late teens and early twenties.
Trujillo is the owner of Tortilleria La Ranchera Tortilla Company. Based in Houston they service almost the all of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisana and Mississippi. He is a very successful business man who purchased the company in 1997.