Suspect on run after fleeing SE Houston SWAT standoff

A SWAT scene ended early Thursday morning after police discovered a suspect thought to be barricaded inside an apartment in southeast Houston had fled.

The standoff began about 12:30 a.m. when a 21-year-old woman called police to say her boyfriend had assaulted her at their apartment in the 1200 block of Redford, said Kese Smith, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.

Smith said the woman grabbed her 18-month-old baby and ran outside after the attack. She called 911 and said the man had locked himself inside the apartment, and he owned guns. She and her child were unharmed.

SWAT officers spoke with the man on his cellphone. But then he hung up and refused further contact with the police, Smith said.

Officers tried to coax him outside, but the man did not respond. A little before 6 a.m., Smith said, officers entered the apartment and found the man was gone, possibly having left before SWAT even arrived at the scene.

Smith said the suspect is identified as 21-year-old Aaron Watts. His girlfriend had a protective order against him when he attacked her. He is expected to be charged, Smith said, with felony violation of a protective order.