Levelland Man Arrested in 2021 Shootout Served With More Charges

A Levelland man who was already in prison since 2021 was indicted by a federal grand jury for assaulting a federal officer.

Omar Soto-Chavira of Levelland is currently in police custody after shooting and killing Lubbock County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Joshua Bartlett during a standoff in July 2021. During the 11 hour shoot out Soto-Chavira barricaded himself and exchanged gunfire with police where law officials state he hit Sgt. Bartlett resulting in his death.

KAMC news reports that the federal indictment states that a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security was assaulted while on scene at the standoff. Soto-Chavira was indicted on Tuesday, April 11, on charges of Assault which are just in addition to the charges he already received for the murder of Sgt. Bartlett.

The capital case for those murder charges which was originally scheduled to be held in Hockley County but was later moved to Cleburne, Texas and be held on September 16, 2024. Soto-Chavira has been in police custody since his arrest in 2021 with a bond total of $1 million but due to the severity of his federal charges is on hold without bond. Soto-Chavira is also facing the possibility of being sentenced to the death penalty for that capital murder charge.