Police: Suspect killed in robbery of taco truck

A pair of Houston police officers shot and killed a man Wednesday after confronting him during the attempted armed robbery of a north Houston taco truck, authorities said.

Two patrol officers in a marked vehicle encountered the suspected robber in a speeding vehicle on Airline Drive, near East Little York Drive, around 8:30 p.m. — as much of the city remained without power.

The officers followed the driver to the 7400 block of Airline, where the suspect, authorities said, stopped next to a taco truck and brandished a semiautomatic pistol to rob the eatery.

Chief Art Acevedo said the suspect pulled the weapon “unbeknownst that a patrol vehicle was behind him.”

The officers told the gunman to drop the weapon and at some point, Acevedo said, they opened fire and shot him. The officers gave the unidentified suspect CPR until he could be taken to a hospital, where he died.

Body camera footage captured the shooting, the chief said.

Both officers, who will remain on administrative leave pending an internal review, had about four to five years of law enforcement experience with the Houston Police Department, according to officials.