HPD officer shot in northwest Houston
HOUSTON—A Houston police officer was in critical but stable condition Monday after he was shot in the abdomen during a confrontation with burglary suspects at an area apartment complex.
Officer Frank L. Pierce, 39, has been on the force for three years.
Pierce is a resident of the Alexan Apartments on Pine Lake near Bunker Hill in northwest Houston. He is a courtesy officer, which means he patrols the complex as an extra job. But on Monday, he was doing his laundry when he saw a suspicious individual carrying a flat-screen TV and several other items out of a unit on the third floor.
He immediately confronted the suspect and ordered him to the ground.
While that suspect was down, a second suspect came out of the unit. Police said there was a confrontation, and the suspect pulled out a weapon, shooting Pierce. HPD said Pierce returned fire, but neither suspect was hit.
"(I heard) five to six shots, ‘boom, boom.’ One after another, ‘boom boom.’ I thought it was a neighbor banging on something," said neighbor Martin Rodriguez.
A few houses farther down Pine Lake, another neighbor raced to her front window.
"(I saw) a white truck speeding down street, a black male in cab of truck with a gun facing forward," she said. Then she called 911.
A short time later, police said that white pickup was involved in an accident near Highway 290 and Jones Road. Jersey Village police found the truck abandoned next to a shopping center, and officers said they found the suspects trying to break into cars. They chased the suspects into the Exclusive Furniture store, where they were arrested.
