Suspect killed following officer-involved shooting in SE Houston
HOUSTON - Police were on the scene of an officer-involved shooting in southeast Houston on Wednesday evening.
The shooting occurred at the intersection of Gulf Freeway and Monroe Boulevard around 7:35 p.m.
Houston Police Executive Chief Matt Slinkard said HPD Vice Division were conducting investigations in the area.
Slinkard said officers saw a man that was possibly engaged in soliciting prostitution.
Authorities said when marked patrol units went to stop the vehicle, the vehicle didn't immediately stop and started to flee from officers.
Slinkard said that as the vehicle was making a U-turn at Monroe and 45 under the freeway, the suspect, who tried to avoid officers stopping him, wrecked his vehicle under the freeway.
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Police said that as officers approached the vehicle to try and detain the suspect, they continued to give verbal commands for the suspect to get out of the vehicle and show his hands.
However, Slinkard said the suspect didn't comply and kept reaching around the vehicle.
That's when, the two officers, both five-year veterans with the police department, fired their weapons striking the suspect, police said.
First aid was administered to the suspect, Slinkard said. However, he passed away at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center after leaving the scene.
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When officers entered the vehicle, they found the suspect in the driver's seat and they recovered a weapon that was on the floorboard directly where the suspect was sitting, Slinkard said. The weapon appeared to be a 40-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
No officers were injured in the shooting. The officers who discharged their weapons were identified as Officers N. Garcia and M. Salazar, both assigned to the Gang Division.
Both officers will be placed on administrative duty for the next several days, which is standard protocol following an officer-involved shooting.
As is customary in HPD officer-involved shooting incidents in the city limits, the case is being investigated by the HPD Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.