High-risk unit kills man in gunfight
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s High Risk Operations Unit was part of an effort Friday to serve a warrant at an apartment in the 900 block of Ashland in Channelview. The suspect was shot and killed after firing on the deputies, authorities said.
A man was shot and killed early Friday after deputies from the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office swarmed his Channelview apartment.
Deputies with the sheriff’s office’s High Risk Operations Unit entered the apartment in the 900 block of Ashland around 5 a.m. to execute a state warrant, according to Deputy Thomas Gilliland with the sheriff ’s office.
They expected to find weapons and drugs in the apartment, said special agent Nicole Strong with the Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Deputies arrived in an armored vehicle and announced their presence as they entered the apartment through the front door and windows. As deputies stepped into the residence, a male occupant started firing at them with an assault rifle, Gilliland said.
Three deputies returned fire, killing the man, he said.
A woman and child inside the apartment were not injured, Gilliland said.
The three deputies who fired were placed, per protocol, on administrative leave, which includes a medical and psychological evaluation.
This was the third lethal use of force from a member of the High Risk Operations Unit in over 400 operations conducted in Harris County, Gilliland said.
“These are very highly dangerous situations that we put ourselves in with these search warrants,” Gilliland said. “As you can see the suspects that we deal with are not afraid of using weapons against us.”