Couple intended to kill San Angelo police officers when they set house on fire, affidavit says

San Angelo Standard-Times (TX)

Jan. 24--SAN ANGELO -- A couple arrested after confronting police officers who responded to a house fire on San Angelo's north side set the fire with the intent of killing police who responded, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Texas Rangers have identified husband and wife Gary Ray Wright and Brenda Joyce Wright as the suspects involved in the fiery shooting standoff with San Angelo police on Friday January 13.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit in the case, the couple intended to go out with bang by killing police officers because of a grievance they had with the San Angelo Police Department.

"Brenda Joyce Wright detailed how she and her husband had become frustrated with life," the affidavit stated. "The couple was dissatisfied over how a recent traffic accident had been investigated with the San Angelo Police Department. The couple viewed this as the 'last straw' and decided to put into motion a plan the couple had been planning for several weeks."

The wife and husband plotted to set their house on fire, summon police to their residence and then kill officers as they responded, according to the affidavit.

Brenda Joyce Wright, 60, told detectives that she armed herself with a shotgun, hid in the bathroom next to a window and waited with the intention to kill any officers who would come into range, the affidavit stated.

She was unable to carry out her plan because of heavy smoke from the house fire.

Her husband, Gary Ray Wright, said in the 911 phone call to summon police that he intended to cause a standoff with law enforcement and kill police, according to the affidavit, and asked for the neighborhood to be evacuated.

Gary Ray Wright, 67, had called a local television news station, KLST, before communicating with dispatch, to announce his plans and asked the news director to have reporters bring cameras to the scene.

Police arrived shortly before noon and encountered Gary Wright, who was armed with a rifle, and his wife near the front of their home in the 1200 block East 21st Street, according to the affidavit. Wright ignored police instructions to drop the rifle, and officers shot him. Both the husband and wife were taken to Shannon Medical Center.

Shannon would not release any information on Wright's condition late Monday afternoon.

The Rangers indicated Tuesday morning that an investigation is ongoing and no further information can be released.

There was significant fire damage to the front and back of the house.

Brenda Joyce Wright was arrested the same day and charged with attempted capital murder, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison. She remains at the Tom Green County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

More Crime reads for you:

--Couple intended to kill San Angelo police officers when they set house on fire, affidavit says

The Texas Rangers identified husband and wife Gary Ray Wright and Brenda Joyce Wright as the suspects...

--Police injured while arresting woman in San Angelo apartment complex

The woman attempted to take an officer's gun...

--UPDATED: San Angelo school principal resisted arrest, had open bottle, police say

Police had to subdue school principal with Taser after DWI chase...

--Local courts, 1/22

A summary of local criminal dispositions from Tom Green County courts-at-law....

--Bergdahl case presents early legal test of Trump rhetoric

A military court will weigh the real-world consequences of President Donald Trump's fiery rhetoric as Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl argues he can't get a fair trial under his new commander in chief....

--Man sentenced to 548 days in state jail for injuring stepson

After four days of trial, a Tom Green County judge sentenced Jacob Andrew Ferro to 548 days in state jail following a guilty verdict by a jury....

--El Chapo is hauled off to US jail that has held terrorists

In a scene U.S. authorities had dreamed of for decades, Mexican drug lord and escape artist Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was hauled into an American courtroom Friday and then taken away to an ultra-secure jail that has held some of the world's most dangerous terrorists and mobsters....

--Prosecutor: 'Dance Mom' should be imprisoned for fraud

A prosecutor on Friday urged a federal judge to sentence "Dance Moms" star Abby Lee Miller to prison instead of probation for bankruptcy fraud....

--Review: 'Slenderman' explores online craze, attempted murder

The Slender Man craze swept the younger digerati while their unwitting elders occupied themselves online with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube....

--Actress Woodley's pipeline protest trial is delayed again

Trial has been delayed again for Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley, who faces charges related to her protest against the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota....

___

Visit the San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas) at www.gosanangelo.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.