FBI Most Wanted fugitive arrested in El Paso

EL PASO — A tip from an unnamed El Paso resident led to the arrest of a Milwaukee double murder suspect listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list Sunday morning in El Paso, officials said.

Terry A.D. Strickland, 24, was arrested by El Paso FBI agents and El Paso Police Department officers at about 5:10 a.m. MT during a traffic stop near Woodrow Bean Trans Mountain Road and Dyer Street, said Douglas Lindquist, special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso division.

Strickland was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list on Dec. 15, five months after he allegedly shot and killed two men during a fight at a Milwaukee home.

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FBI agents in El Paso received a call through the agency's public tip line that Strickland, who may have been going by a different name, was believed to be temporarily living in El Paso, Lindquist said.

"FBI special agents conducted an interview regarding a tip from our public access line," Lindquist said at a news conference. "The information involved the possibility that FBI Top Ten fugitive Terry Strickland was temporarily residing in El Paso." He said FBI and partner agencies worked through Saturday night and into the early morning hours Sunday to locate Strickland.

An investigation was conducted by El Paso FBI agents, El Paso police officers, El Paso Violent Crime Task Force, FBI Milwaukee and Albuquerque agents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.

Strickland was spotted by law enforcement leaving the Parkland Mobile Home Park in northeast El Paso as a passenger in a black Dodge Durango, Lindquist said. El Paso FBI agents and police officers conducted a traffic stop and took Strickland into custody without incident.

The driver of the vehicle was questioned by agents, but was not taken into custody, Lindquist said.

Strickland was booked into El Paso County jail several hours later. He did not answer any questions from the El Paso Times as he was being walked into the county jail.

"Today's Top Ten arrest demonstrates great determination, coordination and cooperation the FBI and its law enforcement  partners have here in El Paso, Milwaukee and throughout the country," Lindquist said.

It wasn't immediately clear why Strickland, who is originally from Illinois, was in El Paso, near the Mexico border, but Lindquist said they are continuing to investigate any connections Strickland may have to the area.

No information was available on how long Strickland may have been living in El Paso. Officials believe that Strickland was in the process of or had just moved from another location in El Paso to the mobile home park.

"We don't know that (why he was in El Paso) right now," Lindquist said. "That is something else we are still investigating and trying to sort out. But right now the most important thing is that Strickland is in custody and that gives us time to pursue that and help our FBI partners in Milwaukee and also the Milwaukee Police Department make their case."

Milwaukee police found two men, Maurice Brown Jr. and Michael Allen Reed, shot outside the home on July 17 where Strickland was believed to be living at with his 18-month-old daughter, officials said.

Several witnesses reported seeing a group of about seven or eight men arguing in front of the home, according to information released by the FBI at the time Strickland was added to the Most Wanted list on Dec. 15.

Strickland allegedly went into the home and grabbed a .40-caliber handgun. He then began shooting into the group, officials said.

One of the victims attempted to stop the fight but fell to ground.

Strickland allegedly then stood over the man and repeatedly shot him. He then turned around and shot the other man in the head, officials said.

He then fled the scene in a black SUV, leaving his daughter at the home, officials said.

"I am ecstatic that he's been arrested for the murder of my son," Janice Reed told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.on Sunday.

"My son can rest now," she added.

Strickland was charged with two counts of first degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon. An arrest warrant was issued for him July 28.

A charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was added against Strickland and a federal warrant was then issued for his arrest by the U.S. Eastern District of Wisconsin, officials said.

Strickland was the 512th fugitive to be placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, which was established in 1950, and the 480th to be taken into custody.

A $100,000 reward was being offered for any information leading to his arrest. Lindquist said the tipster is "certainly being considered" to receive the money reward.

Strickland is the third person on the FBI's Most Wanted list to be arrested in El Paso, according to the agency's records.

Emmett Kervan, wanted in a Connecticut bank robbery, was arrested in El Paso in 1959.

The last time a Ten Most Wanted fugitive was arrested in El Paso was in 1999 when Angel Maturino Reséndiz surrendered to a Texas Ranger at one of the bridges. Reséndiz, known as the "railroad killer," was wanted for a string of murders across the country. He was executed in 2006.

Contributing: Ashley Luthern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Aaron Martinez on Twitter: @AMartinez31