HOUSTON – A burglary suspect was shot in the stomach Tuesday after a couple caught him in the act, police said.
It happened at the Fleetwood Claim Service in the 2855 block of Mangum around 12:00 p.m.
Police said the man was going office to office on the fourth floor, looking for things to steal, when insurance business-owner Sherri Jones found him rummaging through her purse. Jones confronted him, but she said the suspect threatened her. That’s when her husband intervened.
Investigators said Gary Jones warned the suspect he had a concealed weapon, but the suspect continued to struggle with him.
“He told him, ‘I have a pistol I don't want to have to pull it on you,’ and the guy just kept on and kept on until he said he just wasn't gonna take a beating anymore,” said Terry New, a witness.
Police said the business owner then pulled out his handgun and shot the suspect in the stomach.
New said he heard the struggle from his office across the hallway.
“She was actually standing right there at this door and she was terrified to say the least," New said.
"Once I heard her husband’s voice, I knew he wasn’t shot, he was probably the one that did the shooting."
Another building tenant, Mary Martha, said she was glad nothing worse happened.
"We just pray over this building everyday because that all we can do, anywhere we go now," she said.
New added that he thought Tuesday’s incident showed the importance of the concealed handgun license.
"The police can only do so much to protect us," he said. "Sometimes we have to take matters into our own hands and this was one of those times."
The suspect was transported to the hospital and was expected to recover.
11 News legal expert Gerald Treece said the shooting was justified in more than one way.
"Justification in self defense, justification in defense of his spouse, and the fact that a crime was being committed," Treece said.
