Detectives probing death of Houston police officer

A Houston police officer on Tuesday was found dead, apparently at his own hands, inside a parking garage behind the HPD Jail near downtown, authorities said.

The officer was discovered about 4 p.m. inside his HPD patrol car parked at the garage along Washington near Riesner. Other HPD officers spotted him while they arrived prior to starting their Tuesday evening shift.

He was still in uniform and slumped over inside the patrol car, authorities said.

“The officers pulled him out of the car. They deter- mined he was deceased,” said Victor Senties, a Houston police spokesman. The officers found a pistol inside the car.

“They determined he was deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Senties said.

The officer’s death is being investigated by Houston police homicide detectives.

Other than to say he worked in HPD’s traffic enforcement division — located in the area where his body was discovered — authorities declined to confirm the officer’s identity. “We’re not able to contact any family members yet,” Senties said.

Police officials offered no clues as to what might have prompted the officer to apparently take his own life — whether it was personal or related to his job with the Houston Police Department.

“We’re starting from square one. We just don’t know,” Senties said.

The officer had been in court earlier Tuesday as part of his usual assignment with HPD’s traffic enforcement unit, which investigates auto accidents.

“He had completed his court duties for the day and then he came over here to the garage,” Senties said.

According to a 2012 study by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, law enforcement officers were more likely to die as a result of suicide than either a traffic accident or an assault.

“The reality is that the law enforcement profession has long perpetuated a stigma attached to mental health that prevents both officers from seeking the necessary treatment and leaders from providing it,” the study stated.

Senties said counseling services will be available for any HPD officer affected by the apparent suicide.

“They’re obviously going to have that option,” he said.

James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle Houston police officers work inside a parking garage on the Houston Police Department facility, located at 61 Riesner. An HPD spokesperson confirmed that an officer died from a gunshot wound in the garage Tuesday.