Police believe the 17-year-old man suspected in the death of a 6-year-old Saginaw, Texas, girl may have had at least one accomplice, NBC DFW has learned.
Tyler Holder, 17, is hospitalized after allegedly shooting an Arlington police officer when law enforcement attempted to serve arrest and search warrants at his home Tuesday morning.
Holder is suspected in the death of Alanna Gallagher, whose body was found on a residential street in the North Texas community of Saginaw on July 1.
Law enforcement sources say investigators are actively looking for a possible second person in connection with the case. Surveillance video shows that Holder's pickup truck never left his house the day Gallagher disappeared.
Holder lives a couple of houses away from the Gallagher home. Her body, wrapped in a tarp, was found in a residential street about a mile from her home.
According to the arrest warrant for Holder, DNA evidence links him to Gallagher's slaying.
Suspect Opens Fire on Police
Holder came to the front door with a gun in his waistband, pulled it out and opened fire at the officers on Tuesday morning, a law enforcement source said.
Arlington police Detective Charles Lodatto, who was assignment with the FBI task force investigating Gallagher's slaying, was shot in the groin. The bullet divided his femoral artery, doctors said later Tuesday.
Holder was shot in the head and his condition is life-threatening, MedStar EMS confirmed. He was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
NBC DFW has learned that the bullet may have gone through his chin and missed his brain and that Holder could recover.
DNA Evidence Links Holder to Slaying
The arrest warrant issued for Holder outlines the events that lead up to the killing of the 6-year-old and includes graphic details of her death.
Gallagher was found wrapped in a tarp with plastic grocery sacks taped over her head with duct tape. The warrant also states the 6-year-old was sexually assaulted.
NBC DFW is not revealing further details about the assault because of its graphic nature.
According to the warrant, Holder was seen pacing "up and down the sidewalk" when Gallagher's body was found.
Neighbors in the area told officers that Holder told them the body recovered was Gallagher before the victim had been identified.
Another neighbor also told officers she had seen a gray tarp in the back yard of Holder's home two to three months ago. At that time, officers didn't see the tarp in the back yard. Officers later determined that the tarp the neighbor spotted in the back yard was similar to the tarp in which Gallagher was wrapped.
Investigators first interviewed Holder on July 1, the day Gallagher was killed. The FBI then interviewed him on July 5 and agreed to provide a DNA sample. On Saturday, Holder's DNA sample matched DNA found on the victim.
The arrest warrant was issued Tuesday.
NBC DFW's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: NBC 5 News/Arlington Police