ARLINGTON, Texas — The suspect that prompted authorities to issue a "Blue Alert," pinging phones across Texas late Monday night, has been arrested, officials said.
Joshua Lee Green was arrested by Arlington SWAT officers near a hotel along Interstate 20 on Wednesday morning, according to Clay County Sheriff Jeff Lyde.
Lyde said Green shot one of his deputies on Monday night. The deputy was wearing a bulletproof vest and was not seriously injured.
The shooting happened shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday on northbound U.S. 287 in Jolly, in Clay County southeast of Wichita Falls. Deputy Breanton Chitwood had pulled over a Cadillac car for speeding. When Chitwood walked up to the vehicle, he was shot in the chest.
Later that evening, a Blue Alert was sent to phones across Texas by the Texas Department of Public Safety. But the alert caused confusion to many people; no specific location or information about the suspect was given, only a warning to "monitor radio or TV."
The Texas DPS on Tuesday said the Texas State Operations Center was "working with system support specialists to determine why all of the information entered into the alert system was not transmitted publicly."
Lyde said the Clay County investigation led authorities to Green, an Arlington resident. The U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force located Green at a hotel in the 4000 block of Scots Legacy Drive on Wednesday morning and took him into custody after a short foot chase, Arlington police said.
The Cadillac had been found by authorities before Green was arrested, according to the Texas DPS.
Blue Alerts were created to let residents across the state know when an offender who killed or seriously injured a federal, state or local law enforcement officer in the line of duty is on the run.
Green was previously convicted in Tarrant County on charges of burglary, stalking and evading arrest, according to court records.