Three dead in shooting at Greenville car dealership
GREENVILLLE, Texas - Three people are dead after a shooting an auto dealership in Greenville Tuesday night.
The shooting happened at the Nissan of Greenville dealership off of I-30 around 7:20 p.m. Police said when officers got there they found three men dead.
WATCH: Video captures deadly confrontation at Greenville auto dealership
Dealership owner Rick Ford said the shooting involved two men who identified themselves and federal agents but they are believed to have been bounty hunters.
Ford said the men waited for several hours until a customer’s acquaintance arrived at the dealership. An exchange happened that ended in gunfire and all three of them fatally shot.
"I've been told the two gentlemen approached him with handcuffs. They were trying to arrest him and that's when the shooting started," he said. "The gentleman with the customer fired on the agents and the agents fired on him."
According to KRIS in Corpus Christi, family members identified the two men as Fidel Garcia Jr. and Gabriel Bernal. Garcia owns an investigation agency in Corpus Christi and was hired by US Fugitive Recovery & Extradition to bring in a man wanted out of Minnesota.
US Fugitive Recovery identified the fugitive as Ramon Michael Hutchinson. He failed to show up in court and was wanted for assaulting a police officer, disarming a police officer and first-degree felony narcotics possession. He had an extensive criminal history that included assault and weapons charges.
Ford said he and his employees didn't necessarily give the men permission to be there but they also didn't ask them for badges or ask them to leave.
He said there were several customers and employees in the dealership when the shooting happened. He’s just glad none were hurt.
"I will tell you that my first concern is our employees and customers. We were all very relieved they weren't hurt. We can replace glass. We can replace furniture. The ultimate thing is no one was hurt," Ford said.
The dealership will remain closed on Wednesday because of the ongoing investigation.
Greenville police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting. They confirmed no law enforcement officers were ever involved.