Incident costs officer his job

A Houston police officer has been relieved of duty after reportedly firing shots from the balcony of his second-floor apartment in Webster earlier this week, according to Webster and Houston police departments.

The police officer was relieved of duty after the incident, confirmed HPD spokesman Kese Smith on Friday. The officer is not being identified due to medical reasons, Smith said.

When Webster police officers arrived after 4 p.m. Wednesday to the apartment complex in the 100 block of West Texas Avenue, they saw the man on his balcony with a pistol, according to a news release from the Webster Police Department.

Police began talking with the man and persuaded him to throw his weapon to the ground. He also unlocked his apartment door so that officers could enter inside.

The man, an off-duty Houston police officer, was detained by officers and appeared to be in an apparent state of severe crisis, the release said.

Houston Police supervisors also responded to the scene, and the man was taken by ambulance to Houston VA Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

Two .40-caliber shell casings were taken from the scene and two .40 pistol slugs also were found in the apartment complex swimming pool. There were no people in or near the pool area during the incident, according to the news release.

This incident comes after another Houston police officer was relieved of duty on Thursday after being charged with tampering and fabricating evidence. Julissa Guzman Diaz, 37, reportedly did not confiscate more than one kilo of cocaine and allowed a wrecker driver to take it during a traffic stop that was part of an undercover police sting operation.

The case remains under active investigation by both Webster and Hous- ton police departments.