Officer hurt in hostage standoff

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) - A bullet grazed a police officer responding to a hostage situation in Williamson County early Monday morning that left a suspect dead and the hostage unharmed after she managed to escape.

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office Hostage and Negotiations Team and their Special Missions Team -- the equivalent of a SWAT team -- responded to Harvest Moon Drive and Sun Chase Boulevard to a barricaded person at the Ranch at Cypress Creek subdivision around 7 a.m.

The man was identified Monday afternoon as George William Stokes, 58, of Missouri.

Stokes held a woman hostage inside a home at 1601 Eagle Wing Dr., telling negotiators he needed "10 more minutes" in situation that quickly turned into much longer.

Sheriff's Sgt. John Foster said they finally got him to release the woman and that once she was out of the house, they told her to run. The suspect then reportedly started shooting once he saw her running away.

"He was not only shooting at us -- he was shooting at her," said Foster.

Officials said Stokes then went back into the home and shot himself. He was later pronounced dead at Round Rock Medical Center.

An officer grazed by one of the man's bullets was also treated for a minor wound at the hospital. Meanwhile, the woman was unharmed.

"We are very, very lucky that the victim was not shot, and that I'm not standing here telling you that our SWAT team members were shot," said Foster.

School lockdowns

The hostage situation spurred a couple of school lockdowns in the area.

Depending on where they lived, some residents were let out -- though others were not allowed into the subdivision.

All schools in the Leander Independent School District have since lifted their lockdowns.

Spokeswoman Veronica Sopher said Cedar Park Middle, Cedar Park High, Naumann Elementary and Faubion Elementary schools were all on lockdown as a precaution to the SWAT situation at Milburn Park.

Sopher said students and staff were not in any immediate danger, and parents received phone calls notifying them of the lockdown -- with the exception of parents of Faubion students because the police situation resolved itself before the phone message went out.

Students arriving to the middle school were let into the building, and parents who opted to keep their kids at home were not penalized for tardiness or absence.

Meanwhile, Cypress Creek Montessori School was also on lockdown. Parents were informed as children arrived that they were allowed to leave students at school or take them home.