Houston police release body camera footage following deadly officer-involved shooting on July 6
HOUSTON - The Houston Police Department has released officer body camera footage following a deadly officer-involved shooting that occurred back in July.
The shooting occurred on the 7500 block of Park Place just after 6 p.m. on July 6.
According to Houston police, Officers Maldonado and Garza of the Southeast Patrol Division responded to a family disturbance at an apartment complex.
When officers arrived, they spoke with a woman in an apartment who stated that the suspect choked her, police said..
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Police said they attempted to talk with the suspect, later identified as Jose Benitez-Vasquez, but he was uncooperative. As they attempted to detain Benitez-Vasquez, he actively resisted and a physical altercation began.
A second man, who was later identified as Francis Vasquez-Benitez, 18, was inside the apartment and got involved in the fight by pulling the officer’s hands away from Benitez-Vasquez, police said.
At the same time, Benitez-Vasquez attempted to disarm an officer by removing his duty weapon from his holster.
As you can hear in the body camera video, the officer yelled that Benitez-Vasquez had possession of the officer’s weapon and it fired.
Police said the other officer on the scene, feared for the officer’s safety, fired his weapon at Benitez-Vasquez striking him.
Benitez-Vasquez was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police said that Vasquez-Benitez was charged with assault of a peace officer in the 176th State District Court.
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Both officers were placed on administrative duty. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, police said.