Ganado teen assists in apprehension of armed suspect

By Jessica Coleman

Contributing Writer

     Ganado Sophomore Landon Hicks was settled in for a day of hanging out with friends. It was Christmas Eve, school was out, and nothing seemed amiss. He had no way of knowing he would become a hero by the end of the day.

     It started when one of them thought they saw a friend outside.

     “When I walked outside, he was walking down the street, and he looked exactly like one of my friends,” said Landon.

     To catch up with their buddy, the group jumped into the car and tried to catch up.

     “So we rolled up on him in our jeep and rolled down the back window and I said ‘What’s up, Scotty?’”

     When the man turned around, however, it was not their buddy looking back at them, and the situation got scary, quickly.

     “He pulled out a gun, cocked it, and put it in the back window,” said Landon.

     This is where most people would have retreated, but Landon leapt into action. He called police, and then trailed the man on foot so police could find him.

     When Ganado Police Officer Tipton arrived, however, the man took off running.

     According to Ganado Police Officer Nathan Besler, without Landon, a dangerous person may still be on the streets.

     “Officer Tipton took off after him and out of the corner of his eye, he just sees this blur,” said Bessler. “And it was Landon.”

     Immediately, Officer Tipton called out to Landon to stop because the man had a gun, but Landon barely heard him. All he knew was that the man was a danger and needed to be stopped.

     “The whole time I was just thinking he was going to turn around and shoot,” said Landon.

     In the end, Landon tackled the suspect and held him down until Officer Tipton arrived to handcuff him. The man, identified as 18-year-old El Campo resident Seth Honea, was apprehended and taken to the Jackson County Jail. The firearm, which turned out to be stolen, was later recovered along the route he had run in his attempt to escape.

     “Landon went above and beyond,” the Ganado Police said in a Facebook post, “Showing what it means to be an exemplary citizen.”

     When he isn’t chasing down bad guys, Landon Hicks plays football and baseball, and golf, and runs track.