Off-duty deputy constable deadly shooting: 2 men arrested

Two arrested in death of Caldwell Co. deputy

Two men are in custody in connection with the deadly shooting of an off-duty Caldwell County deputy constable outside an Austin bar early Sunday morning.

AUSTIN, Texas - An off-duty Caldwell County deputy constable is dead, and two men are in custody after a shooting outside an Austin bar early Sunday morning.

38-year-old Thomas Vances has been charged with capital murder of a peace officer and is facing four other unrelated felonies and one misdemeanor.

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Off-duty deputy constable dies in Austin bar parking lot shooting

22-year-old Ronaldo Ernesto Colindres-Simon has been charged with second-degree felony assault on a peace officer and is being held in the Travis County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Suspect in shooting arrested for capital murder

What we know:

Vances is currently in the Travis County Jail for:

• Capital murder of a peace officer
• Third-degree felony assault on a family or household member with previous conviction (from 2017)
• Second-degree felony burglary of a habitation (from 2024)
• Second-degree felony burglary of a habitation (from 2020)
• Third-degree felony assault on a family or household member with previous conviction (from 2019)
• Misdemeanor criminal trespass (from 2024)

Vences had five active warrants under his name when involved in the shooting, including ones for home burglary and assaulting a family member.

Off-duty deputy dies in Austin bar parking lot shooting

Authorities have apprehended a suspect after a Caldwell County sheriff's deputy was shot and killed in a nightclub parking lot in Austin early Sunday morning.

Man arrested for running over deputy constable's arm after he was shot

Timeline:

Arrest paperwork filed for Colindres-Simon gives a timeline of the investigation into the shooting.

On Jan. 4, just after 2 a.m., APD responded to an "assist agency hotshot" call saying a constable had been shot at Club Rodeo, at 9515 N. Lamar Boulevard.

When officers arrived, they were flagged down by pedestrians in the parking lot and pointed towards two parked cars where they found a uniformed deputy constable, later identified as Caldwell County Pct 3 deputy constable Aaron Armstrong, on the ground. A bystander had started a tourniquet and told police they had seen at least one gunshot wound to his upper right arm.

The bystander told police that a man had been in an altercation inside the bar and was escorted out by the deputy. The man left the parking lot, but then returned and was told by the deputy that if he kept causing issues, he would go to jail.

Caldwell County Deputy Constable Aaron Armstrong

The man appeared agitated and was held back by two other men and a woman. One of the men was later identified by police as Colindres-Simon.

The bystander said the man had retrieved a gun from one of the cars. An expletive was yelled and the bystander said he heard a gunshot. He helped the deputy constable to the ground and began life-saving measures, including the tourniquet. 

He told police that he saw Colindres-Simon get into one of the cars and try to leave. Colindres-Simon told the bystander he didn't want anything to do with this and wanted to leave. Despite the bystander's protests, Colindres-Simon got in the car and reversed over the deputy constable's arm with one tire.

The bystander prevented him from doing it to the deputy constable's other arm and yelled at him that he was running him over. The car then drove off.

Officers were able to identify the sedan Colindres-Simon was driving through a social media post, which showed a license plate not belonging to the sedan. Officers also determined two other vehicles had been involved; two of the three vehicles did not have license plates. 

Officers did a traffic stop on the sedan for not having a license plate and matching the description of the vehicle that had fled the scene and run over the deputy constable's arm. 

The driver of the sedan was identified as Colindres-Simon, who told police he was parked at Club Rodeo but left because he heard gunshots. However, footage from Armstrong's body camera showed Colindres-Simon as one of the men holding back the shooting suspect. He also matched the description given to police by the bystander.