Off-duty cop shoots robbery suspect
Crime scene investigators look into a sewer drain for a weapon reportedly used in an officer-involved shooting Monday near the intersection of Fannin and Hadley. A man was shot after police say he pistol-whipped and robbed a homeless person.
An off-duty Houston police sergeant working an extra job on Monday at a Midtown business opened fire on a man who was pistol-whipping and robbing a homeless person, police say.
The sergeant, who was not immediately identified, spotted the struggle on Hadley Street around 1 p.m. while working at an office in the 2200 block of Fannin, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. Once the sergeant realized what was happening, he ran across Fannin and confronted the man, who raised the pistol toward the officer, Acevedo said.
The Houston Police Department originally tweeted that the suspected robber shot at the officer, but Acevedo said investigators are working to determine if that actually happened.
A witness told the sergeant that the man did open fire, but that witness — as well as the victim in the robbery — fled the scene before more officers arrived to help. Neither had been located as of Monday afternoon, Acevedo said.
The sergeant fired his gun once, striking the man, Acevedo said. The injured man then threw the gun he had in a nearby storm drain and fled a block south to a waiting car, which police believe took him to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the nearby Texas Medical Center, Acevedo said.
He was in surgery as of mid-afternoon. His condition was not known.
Because the sergeant was working an extra job, he was not wearing a body-worn camera, Acevedo said. HPD officers working extra jobs do not wear them unless they’re working security at places where alcohol is served, such as bars, Acevedo said.
The sergeant will be placed on administrative duty until an internal investigation is finished.