A Lubbock man pleaded guilty today to threatening to kill his ex-wife, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Gene Garcia Solis, 48, was charged via criminal complaint in November 2021 and indicted the following month. He pleaded guilty on Monday to interstate threatening communications.
According to plea papers, Mr. Solis admitted that on Nov. 24, 2021 – the day before Thanksgiving – he told a Lubbock police officer that he planned to kill his ex-wife and anyone who tried to stop him and then commit suicide.
Fearing for his ex-wife’s safety, officers set up surveillance at her residence. That evening, at around 10:30 p.m., Mr. Solis drove by the home.
When officers attempted to stop his car, he fled. Nearly three hours later, law enforcement spotted the defendant in Hale Center, Texas, and once again attempted to stop his car. He attempted to flee, but hit a spike strip and crashed in the parking lot of a Texas National Guard Armory.
Mr. Solis exited the vehicle, fired several rounds from an AR 15-style rifle, and ran inside the Armory. He finally surrendered to law enforcement after about a 30-hours standoff.
He now faces up to five years in federal prison. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, Lubbock Resident Agency, and the Lubbock Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Hale County Sheriff’s Department, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Haag and Callie Woolam are prosecuting the case.