Texas state trooper shoots neighbor through the door after he came to the wrong apartment
Houston - A Texas State Trooper is at the center of an investigation after he shot one of his neighbors at a Downtown Houston apartment complex on 500 Crawford Street.
The state trooper who’s been with the Texas Department of Public Safety for two years apparently mistook his neighbor for a burglar and shot him.
Just after midnight, the Texas State Trooper heard someone trying to get into his Downtown Houston mid-rise apartment.
State trooper shoots neighbor at Houston apartment
The state trooper who’s been with the Texas Department of Public Safety for two years apparently mistook his neighbor for a burglar, and shot him. Just after midnight the Texas State Trooper heard someone trying to get into his Downtown Houston mid-rise apartment.
"The trooper did give several commands for him to get away, and he believed he was going to make entry," explains HPD Asst. Chief Yasar Bashir.
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So the trooper took aim at the door and squeezed the trigger, shooting the man in the shoulder because the trooper says he thought someone was trying to break into his apartment.
Turns out the man is his neighbor, who lives in the building on a different floor.
"I think it was somebody after the Beyoncé concert or something. That could have been it. (You think a neighbor was disoriented or maybe intoxicated?) From what I’ve seen, possibly," says another resident of the building.
The owner of the building Finger Companies confirms it’s believed "to be a case of one resident mistaking another resident’s apartment as their own".
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The man never made it into the trooper’s apartment.
From inside the trooper fired straight through the door, shooting what turned out to be his neighbor.
"I don’t know how I feel about that. I guess I would want to know who was outside and what was going on. Maybe he felt threatened, right," says another neighbor.
"If someone’s making a mistake, and they’re not actually coming into your house you don’t just shoot through the door blindly. In the circumstance where someone lives, and you haven’t killed them, now you may have committed an act of Aggravated Assault, which can be a reckless act," explains Fox 26 Legal Analyst Chris Tritico.
The Houston Police Department Special Investigations Unit, and the Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.
The man who was shot was rushed to the hospital and is in stable condition after the first officers on the scene rushed to his aid.
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"The officers provided medical attention. They applied two tourniquets to save his life," adds Asst. Chief Bashir.