Watch on robbery suspects turns deadly
A Houston police officer shot and killed aman — believed to be armed — Tuesday morning at a north Harris County hotel during a surveillance operation on a suspected serial robbery crew.
A squad of Houston police officers on the federal Gun Crime Strike Force started watching a person of interest behind the robberies around 9 a.m. at the North Villa Hotel and Banquet Hall. He and two others had been staying at the hotel at 16510 Interstate 45 service road near Cypress Station and arrived that morning in a car, Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference.
The law officers in marked tactical gear used unmarked SUVs to trap the vehicle in a back parking lot and then apprehend the trio, officials said.
One of the men bolted and dropped a gun while officers chased him, police said. He and another suspect, who remained in the car, were taken into custody.
The driver, whom Acevedo saidwas the main target of the investigation, came out of the car
armed and “raised the pistol,” Acevedo said. An officer fired one round from his patrol rifle at10:20 a.m. and struck the suspect in the chest. Acevedo said body-worn cameras captured the shooting.
Video from witnesses shows them a non the ground and groaning between two vehicles. Residents at the hotel then watched from a second-floor balcony as paramedics tried saving him. A blood transfusion was among the medical treatments he received at the scene. The 27-year-old man, whom police did not identify, did not survive.
The chief said the suspect had open warrants for robbery in Harris County and was wanted in HPD's investigation.
Among the witnesses was Courtlun Hampton, who said he heard authorities ram the person of interest’s vehicle. He then saw one of the suspects run away.
“I looked behind me and saw that they surrounded the car with their guns drawn out,” Hampton said.
One of the men in the car was
shaking, he said.
The man who ran from officers, Acevedo said, complained
of chest pains and was taken to a hospital. He had been wearing a bullet-proof vest.
“He indicated to us … that he had been shot with that vest within the last few weeks,” the chief continued. “Sure enough — there’s a bullet hole from some other incident we’re involved in.”
During the news conference, Acevedo showed off a photo of an assault-style rifle — with a blue bandana wrapped around the hand guard — that investigators found in a hotel room that one of the surviving suspects went in.
Acevedo declined to say which robberies the person of interest was linked to.
He said he will press federal authorities to charge the surviving suspects. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were part of the surveillance operation.
Meanwhile, the police officer who shot the suspect will be placed on administrative leave.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and not HPD’s Special Investigations Unit is handling the officer-involved shooting probe because the incident happened outside the city boundaries. The Harris County District Attorney's Office and HPD’s Internal Affairs Division are conducting their own review into the shooting.