Off-duty deputy shoots driver

Police say man had pointed a gun at officer

A Waller County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot a driver who police say pointed a gun at him in the Galleria area Wednesday morning.

The off-duty deputy was working security for a construction crew near Post Oak Boulevard and West Alabama Street around 1:15 a.m. when police say a male driver stopped, put his head down and might have fallen asleep.

Houston Police, which is investigating the incident, said the deputy then approached the car and tapped on the window. A few seconds later, the man looked up at the deputy, then grabbed a gun and pointed it at him, HPD Assistant Chief Bobby Dobbins said.

The deputy pulled his duty weapon and shot the car several times, Dobbins said.

The driver did not fire any shots, Dobbins said.

The driver then took off and drove to Beechnut Street and West Loop 610. He called an ambulance from there about five minutes later, police said.

Bellaire police responded, Dobbins said.

Dobbins said he did not know how many times the man had been shot but that he had been hit in the hand by either a bullet or a fragment.

The driver was transported to the hospital in stable condition, Dobbins said.

Houston Police are investigating both scenes, and Dobbins said it is not yet clear what charges the driver will face.

The shooting marks at least the second time in recent months that a non-HPD officer has shot a motorist in Houston. In October, a Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable’s deputy fatally shot a motorcyclist as he tried to carjack a car wash patron at the Shell gas station on Chestnut Ridge Road, Houston Police said at the time.

The deputy had followed the motorcyclist into Houston, and police said the deputy first used a stun gun on him, to no effect.