HPD chief addresses video of deadly officer-involved shooting in NE Houston
HOUSTON - Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo says a thorough investigation is underway more than a week after police shot a man to death in northeast Houston.
Chief Acevedo confirmed that a disturbing video of an officer-involved shooting that has been circulating on social media is from the incident on April 21.
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That's when HPD responded to call about an armed suicidal man, identified now as Nicolas Chavez, 27.
After several attempts to detain Chavez and stop him with non-lethal methods, he was shot on Gazin near Market Street around 9 p.m.
The chief says investigators are reviewing 70 body camera videos with footage of the entire altercation.
The cell phone video is just a small portion of it, he said.
When asked if he felt the officers' actions were justified, he responded saying he still had some questions.
The full investigation, which is being handled by HPD's Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office, is going to take several weeks.
As is standard with officer-involved shootings, all of the police officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative desk duty.
The Houston Police Officers' Union released the following statement on the social media video of the shooting:
"It is clear when looking at the totality of the circumstances of the entire 15 minute interaction that these officers showed tremendous restraint. They followed the law, they followed their training, and did exactly what is expected of them as Houston Police Officers. Sadly, it was clear that Mr. Chavez’s goal that night was for our officers to shoot him. They did everything they could to try to avoid that, but ultimately Mr. Chavez’s determination to back them into a corner and threaten them with serious bodily injury/death (twice) forced them to take necessary action. His mother would later report he was having emotional issues following his release from prison."