A man with a long criminal history lost his life during an armed standoff with officers from the DeKalb County Sheriff Department and Smithville Police last Thursday night. Gregorio “Cruz” Vanloo of McMinnville was 28 years-old.

Authorities from both departments, city and county, spent the day searching for Vanloo after a shooting incident that took plane in the parking lot of Los Lobos Mexican Restaurant that morning, where he was the suspect.

He was located that night at a residence on Toad Road after law enforcement received a tip about his whereabouts.

 “After we got a tip that he was at this residence on Toad Road, officers of the Sheriff’s Department and Smithville Police Department got together and went to this home trying to apprehend Vanloo,” Sheriff Patrick Ray said.  “When we arrived on the scene, Vanloo was on the front porch threatening the officers and then he drew down on them with a handgun. After an exchange of gunfire with officers Vanloo was wounded. He was taken by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

No one else was injured.

It all began Thursday morning when Vanloo got a ride with a women who was taking her brother to work at Los Lobos. As the woman pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, a Suburban driven by a former boyfriend, Steven Christopher Shelton, pulled up beside her. The woman had an order of protection against Shelton, and said he had been harassing her. The woman’s brother jumped out of the car with a tire iron to confront Shelton, and Vanloo, who was in the backseat opened fire on the Suburban putting two rounds in the driver’s side of the vehicle. Shelton was not hit. He drove to the back of the restaurant, jumped out and ran inside through the back door. Shelton is charged with assault and violating an order of protection. His bond is $7,000 and he will make a court appearance on June 25.

After dropping off her brother, the woman then drove Vanloo to the Midway Community where he had asked her to leave him. She then returned to town.

During an investigation at the restaurant by Smithville Police, a witness to the shooting spotted the woman’s red car pulling into the parking lot of McDonald’s Restaurant and reported it. Officers went to McDonalds to confront the woman and she explained what had happened and where she had taken Vanloo.

City and county officers then began their search for Vanloo and reverse 911 calls were made to area residents alerting them to the threat and to report suspicious activity. Sheriff Ray and Chief Collins said the effort paid off as tips started coming in from the community. Officers learned that Vanloo was spotted around at least two homes on Sparta Highway and that his image was captured on home surveillance there.

“While we were searching a call came in that someone had spotted a man fitting the description of our suspect getting into a red Toyota at the corner of Evins Mill Road and Highway 70,” said Chief Collins. The driver was later identified as Gregory Michael Patton. “According to the witness, the man, suspect, got into the back seat and laid down. The car then came into town.”

Officers later spotted the red Toyota on Highland Avenue, and when they approached the car it sped away. A pursuit began with the vehicle traveling down Short Mountain Highway, Jacobs Pillar Road, Turner Road and coming out on Highway 56 heading back toward town. The high speed chase continued with the vehicle traveling along several city streets, out onto Highway 70 West, then onto New Home Road. With speeds exceeding over 100 miles per hour at times, the driver turned onto Short Mountain Highway then traveled into Cannon County. A Be On The Lookout (BOLO) was issued and officers from Warren, Cannon and Woodbury Police Departments and the Tennessee Highway Patrol joined in the effort to get the vehicle stopped. The driver finally stopped on Jim Cummings Highway near the Coffee County line. The driver turned out to be Gregory Micheal Patton, 44, of Smithville. Sheriff Ray said that Patton has been charged with reckless endangerment, evading arrest, and driving under the influence. He was also cited for possession of schedule II and V drugs (methamphetamine and Gabapentin). His bond was set at $11,000.

Following the chase, officers received a tip that Vanloo was at the residence on Highland Avenue where the pursuit began but upon arriving there after the tip, they discovered Vanloo had already left.

“During our search of the home, we found our suspect’s backpack,” said Chief Collins. “There was also a large amount of methamphetamine in the backpack. We had information earlier that Vanloo had two weapons on him at the time of the shooting at Los Lobos and we found one of the weapons among his belongings at this residence on Highland Avenue. He also had a police scanner so we knew he could monitor our movements while we were out trying to catch him.

“We later had a report of him on foot walking by Florence & White Ford so we did another 911 reverse call to alert residents in that area,” said Sheriff Ray.

“Calls came in from people who saw men walking that matched the description and we began following up on all of those leads. We even had a call reporting someone in the bushes by Walmart. Both city and county agencies responded but it turned out not to be him. Walmart was put on lock down for a long time during that period,” said Chief Collins.

Later after receiving another tip, officers converged at the residence on Toad Road where Vanloo was found and confronted. While surrounded, he made verbal threats then opened fire.

 “A special thanks to Warren County Sheriff Tommy Myers and his staff, Cannon County Sheriff Darrell Young and his staff, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Woodbury Police Department, TBI, and District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway and his staff for their assistance,” said Sheriff Ray.

“We also want to thank the citizens for their support in giving us tips and for the things we have seen on facebook since this has happened along with the calls, text messages, and emails we have had in support of us through this. We want people to continue to pray for our deputies, us, and the city police officers who were there and please pray for Mr. Vanloo’s family,” said Sheriff Ray.

“We will be setting up a debriefing for our officers. That was a very tragic thing for them to have gone through. All of our officers are young and we want to make sure they are okay,” he said.

“I want to express my thanks to Sheriff Ray and his staff. They were there with us at the beginning and helped us. We couldn’t have done this without them today. We both had several officers working and we needed all of them. Its great that we live and work in a place where two agencies like ours work together. Today we started this case together and finished it together,” said Chief Collins.

The case remains under review by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway.