Texas City Commissioner Gabriel Salinas was fatally shot in a police encounter. The police and sheriff's deputy responded to the city commissioner's home in response to a domestic disturbance call, authorities said.

According to Associated Press, Texas police officers who responded to the call late Thursday came to the city commissioner's home in Mission, Texas.

There, they found his 39-year-old girlfriend who had severe wounds caused by a knife or machete and her four-year-old son with a head injury, said police Chief Robert Dominguez.

They then came across Salinas, 39, who opened fire, which led to the officers firing back at him, Dominguez said.

The chief said that Salinas shielded himself inside the home, and, after hours of failed attempts to come in contact with him, the officers sent a robot that found him dead in a bedroom.

Dominguez said that there were attempts to encourage him to come out of the house through police negotiators. The stand-off lasted five hours.

Police believe that the fatal gunshot wounds were not self-inflicted. Two Mission officers and a Hidalgo County sheriff's deputy agreed with Dominguez when he said Salinas might have died due to being hit in the transfer of fire.

Salinas' girlfriend was sent to McAllen Medical Center for her injuries. She was said to be under intensive care after going through surgery, reported The Monitor.

Her wounds were critical, but she was expected to get better.

The boy was also sent to a hospital with his head bleeding. The chief said the wound was consistent with bullet grazing. He had since been released from the hospital.

An autopsy will determine if Salinas was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the police shootout.

The sheriff's officials did not respond to request for comment from news agencies as of Saturday.

But Dominguez said police were facing the struggle of telling the city commissioner's mother and sisters about his death, said CBS Dallas - Fort Worth. He said Salinas was "still a human being" after all, and they had to tell his family.

The shooting is still going through investigation by the Texas Rangers. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Maria Montalvo also said that they are still investigating the case and asking direct questions to the Mission police.

A Previous Charge from the Same Woman

This was not the first time Salinas was involved in a possible case of domestic assault.

According to Dominguez, Salinas was also arrested last September for a misdemeanor assault charge that involves the same address and the same woman as the one injured last Thursday.

He faced assault charges, a class A misdemeanor. The case did not have enough evidence, so the municipal court judge Mauro Reyna dropped the charges.

Salinas was sentenced to time served and released on the same day. The case did not push through as the woman did not pursue it.

Even if Salinas has the Mission home, he can be a city commissioner for Sullivan City because Texas law allows the use of only a mailing address when someone files for office.

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