Deputies shoot, kill man in motel lobby
Sheriff: They were serving felony warrants when man drew gun as they approached
A man was shot dead in the lobby of a north Harris County motel on Wednesday, slain by two deputies who Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said were trying to arrest him for multiple felony warrants.
About 1:15 p.m. deputies shot the man through the glass of the sliding door at the front of the Scottish Inns & Suites on Kuykendahl Road. Before he was killed, the man had taken pistol out of his waistband and appeared to raise it toward the deputies as they approached the building.
The man was hit at least twice, Gonzalez said. He died at the scene.
The man’s name wasn’t released Wednesday. He was 45 years old and from Austin, Gonzalez said
The shooting was the second fatal one by Harris County deputies in the last five days. On Friday, another man was shot and killed by a deputy at an intersection one-tenth of a mile away from the motel. The shootings weren’t related, officials said. Both are now under investigation by the sheriff ’s office internal affairs division, Gonzalez said.
The deputies in the latest confrontation were both placed on administrative duty during the investigation. However, Gonzalez said the initial information he received showed the deputies, both 20-year veterans of the department, acted in self-defense.
“Looking at their initial actions, it looks like they acted swiftly and in a safe manner,” Gonzalez said. “They obviously protected their lives.”
There was an employee in the lobby during the shooting, but that person wasn’t hurt, Gonzalez said.
The “deputies contained everything the best they could under the circumstances,” Gonzalez said. “The guy really
prompted the issue.”
The deputies were at the motel as members of a violent offenders task force, officials said. The task force, which is run in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Office and other agencies, received a tip Wednesday about a man who was wanted for multiple state and federal warrants, officials said.
Gonzalez said the man was wanted for five felonies, including a parole violation, a drug charge and a weapons possession charge.
The task force was already at the Scottish Inn when the man arrived at the motel where he had been renting out rooms for weeks, Gonzalez said. The deputies didn’t get close enough to touch him before the man seemed to see them approaching and went for his pistol.
It’s not clear if the man fired his weapon before he was killed, Gonzalez said.
The deputies were not wearing body cameras during the shooting, but the incident was caught on the motel’s security cameras, Gonzalez said.
A woman who was with the man was taken into custody after the shooting, Gonzalez said. The woman also had warrants, but Gonzalez couldn’t confirm during a press conference if she had been arrested and charged.
Officials couldn’t confirm during a press conference how long the task force had been a motel prior to the shooting.
As of May 1, there had been 12 fatal police shootings in Harris County this year, according to the Texas Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization that tracks data about of force incidents. At that time, Harris County deputies had shot and killed two people in 2022.
Since May 1, deputies have been involved in two other fatal shootings: the one at the motel and the one last Friday.
On Friday, a Harris County deputy Sgt. G. Hardin shot and killed Roderick Brooks, 47, of Houston, according to the sheriff ’s office.
The sheriff’s office said Brooks was shot after he took control of a deputy’s Taser. The deputy was trying to stop Brooks after he allegedly shoplifted from a nearby Dollar General store.
Brooks’ family has claimed he was shot in the back after being shocked and tackled by a deputy and said he was a victim of police brutality.