Videos show fatal police shooting in Cypress
Newly released video footage on Tuesday showed two Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies fatally shooting a 35-year-old man in Cypress after he produced a knife during an arrest.
Two deputies arrived on March 17 at a convenience store in the 12900 block of Telge Road, responding to a call about a distraught man with a knife and bloody shirt, according to the sheriff’s office. The witness told authorities that the man was yelling.
A store surveillance camera captured the man, identified as Matthew Hurlock, exiting the passenger door of a car and pacing in the parking lot. In that video, he could be seen with a knife in one hand and blood on his shirt.
The sheriff’s office also released two witness cell phone videos and three body camera videos that show different angles of the confrontation and shooting.
In the videos, the deputies are seen approaching Hurlock across the lot, asking him to drop his knife and put his hands behind his back.
Hurlock walked away and an
swered, “Y’all gonna shoot me man,” according to bodycam footage.
He began running, and they discharged a Taser, causing him to fall in the middle of the road in screams, the videos show.
One deputy managed to toss away the knife, according to the sheriff ’s office. They struggled with Hurlock on the ground, and a third deputy arrived, grabbing his legs.
Sheriff’s office authorities said Hurlock “slashed” multiple times at the deputies with a newly produced knife before they reacted by firing multiple gunshots.
Multiple bodycam videos show Hurlock raising the knife, leading the deputies to immediately retreat. Two of them raised their weapons, and four gunshots sounded.
Medical responders arrived four minutes after deputies began attempting first aid, and Hurlock was pronounced dead on the scene. Authorities recovered two knives from the scene as well as recovered Taser cartridges.
The shooting is being investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division, the Sheriff ’s Office Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Division, which will present evidence to a grand jury.
One of the deputies who fired at the suspect was a cadet trainee who had been out on patrol with the sheriff ’s office for seven days, according to the agency. The trainee had served as a deputy at another agency previously, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez previously told the Chronicle. The second deputy was a trainer who has been with the office for eight years, according to the sheriff.