JIM WELLS COUNTY (Kiii News) -
Sometime before 11 a.m. Wednesday, Precinct 3 Commissioner Oswaldo "Wally" Alanis reportedly shot himself, and was taken by HALO Flight to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital.
He was listed in critical condition at that point.
The shooting happened at the commissioner's home on County Road 3101 in Orange Grove. Authorities with the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Rangers were taking bags of evidence from the house. They would not say anything about what happened, or what they found.
"He lives right next to us, but never really talked to Wally that much, you know," said Tyson Duncan, Alanis' next door neighbor. "Seemed like a real normal guy, so, I don't know why he would have done this."
Alanis is currently unlisted at the hospital. Because of that, his condition is unknown at this point.
District Attorney Armando Barrera has served three and a half years with Alanis, and knew him even before that. Barrera said he was in Falfurrias Wednesday morning when he got a phone call telling him about what he described as shocking and awful news.
"You know, he was, he is a good commissioner," Barrera said. "I know that every time that I was there for a budget hearing, you know, he was always interested, and asked the right questions."
Alanis has been a county commissioner since 1996. In May, he won a Democratic primary election and was set to face off with a Republican in the coming general election. In addition to being county commissioner, Alanis was also the County's emergency management coordinator.
