COVID claims sheriff ’s deputy
32-year-old had followed dad into law enforcement
A 32-year-old Harris County sheriff’s deputy died this week from COVID-19, authorities said Friday.
Alexander Gwosdz died Wednesday, marking the latest Harris County lawman or jailer to die after contracting the virus. Gwosdz was diagnosed with the disease in early March, a sheriff’s spokesman said. In Texas, nearly 50,000 people have succumbed to the disease since the pandemic arrived in North America early last year.
“We are devastated and saddened by another loss of life and reminded again of the dangers of this terrible virus,” said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “Deputy Gwosdz loved his job. He had a servant’s heart. He came from a law enforcement family. His father is a retired sheriff’s office deputy and our brother in blue. His whole life was ahead of him.”
Gwosdz joined the depart
ment in 2012 as a detention officer. Two years later, he graduated from the department’s training academy and became a patrol deputy, working in northwest Harris County. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Chris Gwosdz, an auto theft investigator who worked at the sheriff ’s office for 34 years before retiring in 2020.
The younger Gwosdz’s death sent “shock waves” through the department, Harris County Deputies Organization President David Cuevas said. “He obviously was young and had a bright future ahead of him. It’s a sad day for Harris County law enforcement.”
Joshua Wilson, 34, met Gwosdz in the training academy in 2014. He later opted to work with the department as a reserve deputy, and he rode with Gwosdz a few days every month.
“He had a really good work ethic,” Wilson said, recalling one domestic violence call they responded to together.
It was near the end of a long shift, and Gwosdz easily could have waited until the next day to file the necessary paperwork to get the woman a protective order to prevent her husband from continuing to threaten her.
Instead, they drove downtown and spent hours filling out paperwork to make sure she got what she needed, Wilson said.
“He’d do that on all his cases,” Wilson said.
He remembered Gwosdz as a loving, hardworking friend who cared about his family, enjoyed visiting the Texas Renaissance Festival and chowing down on good barbecue, and was quick to offer help whenever it was need
ed — even if that meant lugging around a friend’s furniture late at night.
“I hope people remember him for how good a person he was,” Wilson said.
The pandemic has claimed the lives of seven peace officers or jailers in Harris County so far, five of whom worked at the sheriff ’s office. The first local lawman to die was Sgt. Raymond Scholwinski, 70, who died after a months-long battle with the disease last May. A month later, Deputy Juan Menchaca, 70, died. Deputy Johnny Tunches, 56, died in November and was followed in February by Robert Perez, a 54-year-old jailer.
The other two Harris County peace officers to die in the pandemic were Mark Brown, an investigator with the Precinct 5 Constable’s Office, and Houston police officer Ernest Leal.