Officer-involved shooting
HARRIS COUNTY – A Harris County deputy was shot and a confidential informant was killed in a northwest Harris County gunbattle Monday afternoon.
The officer and other members of a drug task force were watching a tanker truck suspected of carrying drugs, according to HCSO spokesperson Christina Garza.
The truck was allegedly hauling anywhere from 300 to 1,500 pounds of marijuana.
Suddenly, several vehicles approached the tanker at Hollister and Bourgeois and opened fire. Officers fired back.
During the shootout, an undercover deputy was wounded in the leg. Officers inside the task force said the deputy, whose name isn't being released, was shot by an HPD officer who didn’t know who he was. He was rushed by fellow deputies to Methodist Willowbrook Hospital on Highway 249 where he's expected to be OK.
Police sources said the truck was being driven by one of their confidential informants and that they had planned to arrest the buyers when the drugs were offloaded Monday afternoon. But the operation didn’t go as planned. The buyers opened fire on the tanker driver before the drug deal took place.
The confidential informant was shot to death inside the truck that ended up crashing into a wall.
One suspect was injured during the gunfight.
“We have another suspect who was struck by an officer’s vehicle as he tried to open fire against that officer, said Garza.
He was taken to an area hospital. There was no word on his condition.
Other suspects were arrested after fleeing into neighborhoods near the shooting scene.
A Harris County deputy who was responding to the scene was involved in a crash with a school bus. The bus also hit another car. Four people were hurt, including the deputy. There were no children on the bus at the time.
