HOUSTON – Police are investigating after a suspect was shot by an officer during a disturbance call Sunday morning in southeast Houston.
The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. Sunday in the 6000 block of Ledbetter Street. Officers responded to an assault call and found a man in the middle of the street with a pistol in his hand aggressively pushing and shoving a woman.
Authorities immediately created distance between themselves and the suspect before giving verbal commands for him to drop the weapon. The suspect refused and pointed the weapon toward the officers.
Around that time, police say another responding unit pulled up to the other side of the street. The suspect pointed his gun at those officers and started walking toward them. Officers in that second unit gave him verbal commands, but police say the suspect ignored them, turned back around to the other group of officers and fired several shots in the direction of a residence.
The suspect continued walking toward officers and at one point, sat on the ground with the pistol to his head. Police say he ignored verbal commands again and instead started sprinting at officers with the gun in front of them.
Fearing for his life and the lives of the other officers, authorities say Officer R. Mesa discharged his weapon several times, hitting the suspect, who was then taken to Ben Taub Hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.
The woman was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Officials say she was severely beaten by the suspect, and her condition is unknown.
At this time, authorities do not know where nor how many times the suspect was hit.
