FBI asked to review fatal shooting of kneeling man

The Houston Police Department has asked the FBI to take a closer look at last month’s fatal shooting of Nicolas Chavez, video of whose death showed him on his knees.

During a news conference Wednesday, Police Chief Art Acevedo said he called on federal investigators to review the April 21 shooting. The last time Acevedo said he flagged the FBI was following last year’s botched Harding Street narcotics raid that left two people dead and criminal charges for some of the officers involved.

“I called them myself,” Acevedo said. “They’ve been given everything they’ve asked for.”

Video of last month’s shooting appeared to show Chavez on his knees when at least four officers opened fire following a 14-minute confrontation in Denver Harbor. The officers asserted that he charged at them with a pointy object, later identified to be a piece of rebar, according to authorities.

The shooting followed 911 calls of a man jumping fences and threatening bystanders, police said. Officers confronted him and shot him with Taser rounds and bean bag projectiles. According to police, Chavez at one point picked up an officer’s used Taser and pointed it at the officers.

The cell phone footage appears to show Chavez on his knees and then rising to his feet, before stumbling back to his knees when lethal rounds are fired.

Last month, the chief called the video of Chavez’s death “difficult” to watch. He said the shooting was captured on about 70 cameras, including those worn by the officers.

Acevedo anticipates that their internal investigation into Chavez’s death will wrap up by June 10 at the latest. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is also investigating the shooting and any criminal charges the police officers could face are pending the results of a grand jury.

Acevedo said the FBI routinely monitors whenever an officer-involved shooting happens in his jurisdiction. That oversight applies to all police departments in the country, officials said.

Brian Grehoski, supervisory special agent for the FBI’s Houston division, said the agency assesses some cases in light of a possible civil rights violation. Some police agencies request the assessment but investigators will sometimes initiate the review on their own.

Not every assessment results in an investigation, he continued. Their assessments will determine whether an officer abused their authority, such as excessive force, and if federal prosecution can proceed.

“The real challenge under civil rights investigations, we have to prove that the officer knew what they were doing was wrong and chose to do it anyway,” said Grehoski, who has led civil rights classes at the Houston Police Academy. “That’s an incredibly high bar.”

In the case of the Harding Street raid, the FBI assessment turned into an investigation that resulted in former Houston police officer Gerald Goines being federally charged with civil rights violations, falsifying records and lying about the use of confidential informants.